Jordan Love | High Performance Manager

We speak to Jordan Love about his role as our High Performance Manager. Jordan was also part of the Dolphins cohort who travelled over to Adelaide as part of the VFL State Team who defeated the SANFL. 

This is a must-listen for anyone interested in what happens behind the curtain at a VFL club. The diligence, the data and the care for the player is mind-blowing. From individual programs to data-driven decisions. As Jordan says, it takes a village of people to make the program work and there is no better village than at Frankston. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome back, Frankston fans. We're here on the podcast and we've just come off a bye for the state game. A great win by the big V. The VFL took on the S NFL over in Adelaide for as part of the gathering and celebrations at Glenel Goval. And uh was a cracking game of football. Uh 103 to 98 was the the final score. We had a couple of boys that were uh were in the team and and also Jackson coaching and um a few that were in and around the the program. And I think uh leading into our sort of next little phase of uh or block of games, it would be great to chat to some of our high performance staff. And uh yeah, I've got Jordan Love uh on the on the podcast today who's joining us and uh he was part of that uh VFL win uh last week. And uh firstly touch base, mate. Uh how was that? It looked like an an awesome game of footy and uh and obviously a really exciting uh program to be part of.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yeah, no, thanks for having me, mate. It's um it was definitely a special experience, you know. I never came through the ranks and got to pull on the big V or to do anything like that. So just to be able to be around a bunch of amazing people uh and really high practitioners as well was really was really awesome. So yeah, the experience itself to have the amount of people we did that just put their own egos aside, were extremely selfless and connected to to work towards the goal of going back to back in the program. But um, yeah, it went our way in the end and it was a it was a pretty awesome experience.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

So yeah, yeah, and I just just sticking with the game itself. I mean, um, you know, Corey and Vossi obviously uh played in the game, like Corey had some really important, important touches, probably unlucky not to kick a couple of goals. A few blokes uh took the advantage on him and uh and kicked a couple, but you know, Vossi was uh just super solid down back and and really important as well. And um, you know, I guess on on their games and and their experience and and the boys coming through from Frankston, how'd you see all that?

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Yeah, you know, look both of those individuals have put in a mountain of work um over their last few years at the at the level and they earned the right to be there. So, you know, whilst it didn't seem like a great statistical day for Corey, he did what he needed to, brought the brought the ball to ground when he needed to, and and uh and he played a role. And similarly with Vosse, you know, he's been an extremely high performer at the level, especially over the last 12 months. And what he did was just go out there and um no try to pull a cat out of the hat and do anything crazy. They just they played their role and um they were great teammates. So I was really proud of the way they represented the club.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yeah, for sure, mate. And I guess touching uh touching on your role, like back at back of the club and also like going up through the through the ranks there, high performance manager. Uh talk us through, I guess, a little bit about what that role entails, just uh, you know, probably personally from a Frankston perspective, what that role entails with the club.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Yeah, you know, by by trade, I'm I'm just a strength and conditioning coach, but I suppose the high performance manager title essentially encompasses exactly what it says. You manage the high performance of the group. So that is things in and around their conditioning, the um the way that the preseason is laid out, especially from what does early in the week look like, late in the week, who is being managed. It's a lot of conversations with the medical staff, the coaches, all of those people in in and around the support staff to make sure that each individual as well as the collective has a plan in place to essentially get the best out of themselves, i.e., high performance study just so yeah, it's it's all of those little things. It's the day-to-day conversations, it's uh being able to see the forest for the trees, sort of thing. Um it's everything in and around performance. So I I essentially oversee all of that.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yeah, and and you know, you touched on it a bit there, like every single player on our list essentially has their own profile, program, management, everything like that, and you're you're essentially overseeing that for the the 40 odd players that are on the list.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, yeah, and it is um it is somewhat tricky at times to, in a time poor environment, be able to cater for the individual all of the time, which you know inherently it's a it's a really difficult task. But what we try to do is respect each individual's profile and um match the match the program to things that are going to both help sharpen their sword uh and their strength, but also you know, lift the lift the floor on some of the things that they can improve on to make sure that at the level they're extremely high performers.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

For sure. And I I guess uh it's a bit of an interesting one like this season. Um, I mean, what if you compare it to you know last preseason, for example, we we go out, we we had a very, very healthy list through the preseason. We go and you know win those games, you know, all that sort of thing, and sort of started the season uh, you know, really primed, I guess. We we had a had a few injuries through um that part of the preseason this year, and we've sort of had a few guys that that literally came into round one with with absolutely minimal game time under their belt. How do you see all that unfolding at the moment? Like obviously we're sort of a few games in now. Um Bay probably came at a really nice time as well for for some of those guys, but they're they're kind of starting to find their feet and we're getting our our health right back to where it needs to be.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah, you know, with the with the injury uh front, a lot of those things weren't soft tissue related, unfortunately. You know, we had a few toe issues and uh bone-related things that needed to be looked after for you know long-term health. So and then what came with that was the off-season. We got them through to the end of the pre-season, we got to the prelim, and we just had a few boys that were limping over the line. So um, we thought best case scenario was to get their surgeries, and a lot of those came after, you know, they they uh they go and enjoy their holidays and whatnot. So, yeah, it did mean a delayed start to a lot of their pre-seasons, their return to run, their return to train, and then ultimately their return to play. But what we have faith in is the plan that we devise is going to ensure that you know we're exposing them to what their game is going to look like at both an average and a worst-case scenario. So whilst there's nothing that quite replicates the demands of the game, we can tailor it to what we know that they'll give us on average and and at their worst case scenario. So you only can do what you can do, and um yeah, well, we really feel like the plan that we've had in place with especially our new physio, uh, the Sich Fassan, um, yeah, it's been a it's been a pretty good lead-in, um, otherwise. So a lot of uncontrollables, but that's okay. And then in terms of yeah, like how we get them up for games, it it just is essentially making sure that the block that they've got is going to serve them well. So early in the year, it's probably a lower risk tolerance given that you know we want to have them fit healthy and strong for the back end of the year. So where we may need to take an extra week or two in this early part, we do to make sure that um it gives us the best opportunity in the long run.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

For sure. And it looks like even this week, you know, we we get a couple back with with Blake O'Leary and uh and Joe Moyd coming back. Uh Lloydy seems to be a bit of a perennial late starter with his uh with his seasons, but he's always there when the whips are cracking, which is good. But Blake, Blake's a great story, obviously, like went down with a knee injury, um, probably feared the worst there at the end of last season. But um, you know, to see him back pulling a jumper on sort of you know three, four games into the season, I think that's that's an absolutely great result um to get him back.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Yeah, you know, um it's a great story of of perseverance. Blake's had a pretty wretched run with injury across his whole career. But yeah, we feared the worst against North Melbourne late last year and probably had a better result than than what we thought we were gonna have with that, but it was still quite a complex thing injury, and then that fed into ultimately we think at least what what caused the the hamstring. So it wasn't necessarily a workload-related thing, but um, yeah, that knee gave us a bit of grief, and yeah, but nevertheless, he's come back, he's fit, he's firing. We've probably gone the more conservative route to make sure that we do get him up and um up and healthy. But what what we're gonna see now is a really fit, healthy, and strong Blake O'Leary. So he's coming out of rehab, the strongest he's been in his hamstrings, um, the strongest he's been in his body, he's powerful, he's looking really good out on the track, and some of these injuries uh in the long run detract from what a player is usually capable of doing, but this hasn't pulled him back in the slightest. So uh yeah, really excited to see him back.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Yeah, and and talk us through, like you touched on a little bit there, like just some of the data that you do keep, like on the individuals, you know, like there's obviously things like, you know, you know, top speeds, average speeds, um, strength through, you know, different sorts of testing, um, you know, different parts of the body and and things like that. Like, what sort of data do you you keep and and be able to have a snapshot to give you guys, you know, the ultimate confidence, I guess, in uh in managing these guys?

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, so from uh from a reconditioning perspective, I suppose, which is alluding to the on-field stuff, we do have both match averages and worst-case scenarios, like I said before, for each player. And key metrics that we are looking at is obviously their distance, we need to know what they're covering in a game, but really it's about the high-intensity actions that we're looking at. So our high speed meterage, which is above 20k an hour, our sprint meterage, which is above 25. Then we look at things such as high intensity accelerations and decelerations, we look at how many times in a game that they give us sprint effort, so that you know, if we're in if we're in a a really heavy reconditioning block, that at the back end of that, we want to make sure that if Blake O'Leary is sprinting 20 times in a game, well we want to make sure he's hitting that in his rehab. So from an on-peel perspective, it's that. From a strength and power perspective, we look at things like his hamstring strength on the Nordboard, we look at his jump height, we look at his um elastic profile, which is essentially his hopping and stuff like that. There's a plethora of things that we're sort of looking at to make sure that when when the whips are cracking, he's he's where he needs to be and that he's better than where he was before. So that's ultimately the goal of rehab, right? To to send him off better than when they came in. So um, yeah, we feel like we've done that and hopefully that answers your question. But there is a lot that goes into it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah, I I mean I I think it's fascinating really, like, and you know, you just have to look, you know, at the difference, I suppose, in terms of that diligence and the step up that there is from say local football um into an environment like this where you do have all that, you do have your profile. It's not, you know, the old go to the coach and say, yeah, I'm right to go. Um, you know, there's a lot that that goes into it. And I think people potentially may be a little bit surprised at just the actual level of uh diligence that goes into it. And I think that's that's another area that I like to touch on is you know, like we've we spoke we speak to Jackson a bit, we speak to the assistant coaches, you know, there's but there's a there's a huge team of people that are behind those guys in terms of just making sure that from a football perspective, you know, this this all runs. I mean, you know, talk us through probably you know a couple of guys. I think you mentioned Vass there, um, you know, as the physio, um, you know, who's who's got great raps on him and and things like that. And hopefully we'll have a chat with him shortly as well. But, you know, just talk us through a little bit of that. Uh, you know, the the back end team that that probably doesn't get uh as much of the sort of limelight and everything like that. What is it, what do you have to do and who do you have to have in place to make that sort of kick?

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Yeah, you know, I think firstly just going back onto that other point where you talk about how diligent we are, you know, we're not as resource privy as what the next step up is, i.e. the AFL. Um we're far more time poor than what they are, but nevertheless, whatever scenario you're in, you deal with the cards that you played, and you know, ultimately we're just trying to get the best out of the people that are in front of us. So all that changes is the tools and the resources that we've got in front of us, but it doesn't detract from the outcomes that we're trying to achieve. So um, yeah, we're we're pretty proud of the the work that we've put in, and I'm extremely proud of the work that the rehab team have put in to get a lot of the names, like you said before, Lloydie, Blake, Tame Barlow, those sort of lads to be able to get the fit and firing this early in the season. We're we're really proud. So uh yeah, but then in terms of the support stuff, mate, you know, it takes a um yeah, it takes a village, doesn't it? So yeah, we've been headed up by Vass this year, and he's been, you know, he's been great for me. I'm I'm pretty strong on making sure that rehaby is criteria driven and that we are making sure that you know we're not just timeline driven and we're just saying it's gonna be four to six weeks. We're making sure that everything in front of the player is really, really specific. You know, we want to want to make sure that we're going to the nth degree to to know that when they're back, they're ready. Um, and that instills a level of confidence in the players as well. But not only that, he's really well supported by Bailey Boxetti, who's our new rehab physio. We're really well supported by Ash Plozzard, who's our strength and conditioning coach, you know, in terms of off-legs reconditioning, uh, he's leading a lot of that. Uh, he's leading a lot of the athletic prep stuff. So um the people in and around us are super important, and then that also expend extends to the trainers, Rose, Ben, uh, Dale, all of those guys, they all they all play a part. And I like to think of us as a bit of a flat system where you know everyone is just as important as the person next to you, you know. Um, just because someone might have a title, it really doesn't mean anything. So um what we've got is a really supportive, collaborative team that really cares about each other. And um, the most important thing for us as a as a club is connection above all. So uh when we uh when we collaborate, it it feels really good. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Yeah, that's great. It's um yeah, and I I I really do think it's a it's an eye-opener to to the amount of you know work that goes in um you know on that Monday to Friday to get these guys ready. And um, you know, you've got a bit of a match day role uh as well, um, you know, which obviously we'll we'll talk about that's sort of spilled into the VFL uh state state game as well. But um, you know, talk through what you do actually on match day. Um, you know, you're on the bench, you're doing the running, um, you know, all that sort of stuff. What goes on there?

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah, so I sort of shifted out of the the running role um after my first year. We just felt like what we needed on the bench was that sort of calming presence to make sure that we're managing the workloads effectively. So what I do now is, like I said, manage the rotations of the players to to know that when people are getting stretched, we can bring them off. And um it's essentially around that. But then it also extends to making sure that the players are in a good enough headspace psychologically, so it's always that touch point of conversations, how are you feeling, you know, where are we at, etc. etc. Just to make sure that when they're going back out there, they are in a in a really good psychological space. So I sort of do a little bit of everything, but my main one on game day is to make sure the operation of pre-game is sound. So we are in our team meeting, our line meeting, and our individual prep when we need to be. Uh I run the warm-up pre-game, and then as as the game's being played out, manage the workload of players through rotations. So that's it.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Yeah, cool. And and that extended into into the VFL. Like obviously, um uh Jackson, you know, got the got the coaching role, and um, you're a bit of his sort of right-hand man there with a with a bit of this. So I'm guessing that sort of came as a little bit of a bit of a partnership or a package deal um in terms of getting up there. And I mean that how good is that, I guess, from you know, and we talk about stately, like we we talk about a lot of this club, like you know, we we want everyone, it doesn't matter whether you're doing marketing, media, um, some social stuff, whether you're you know, working the gate, whether you're whatever you're doing within the club, right? It's about progression and about getting you to where you want to want to go. And and we've even seen that, like, you know, uh Will, who is doing some data analysis stuff, you know, he sort of started out with a club doing some journalism, um, you know, but he's gone and you know, worked on himself and done some bits and pieces going into that that space to see if he can add a few more strings to his bow. So, like in terms of that progression and state league as a as a launching pad for where you do eventually want to get up, uh get to and everything like that. How do you see all that um working and and the opportunities that sort of come out of that?

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Yeah, you know, I suppose firstly, um I'm super grateful for Jack A. One thing that he does really well is he supports the people around him. So he's a really big advocate for his players, his staff, the people around the club, and and he does a great job of supporting them. So I was really grateful to be able to go along as runner, and I didn't really have to do much in terms of the high performance space, but what I got to do was connect with with the players, with the staff, and it it's never an easy thing to grab a bunch of people from across the league who might know of each other but don't know each other really well, and to say, here's five days to to gel together and to to go back to back in a state league tournament. So um, yeah, really all I was doing was just having fun and connecting, and then on game day I was a runner, so that's obviously around relaying messages to players, and in that you know, you've got to make sure you're delivering messages the right way, and the lead up into that is super critical to make sure that you are building a relationship. So if the message is quite direct, that you know you can you can deliver that and then just keep moving forward. So yeah, I was really grateful for the opportunity. It was super special experience, and um, yeah, it was awesome for me to sort of take that next step up. So that was great.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

I I'd imagine you you'd learn a lot of you know, just how different clubs, different players, different, you know, you you would get an insight into into how all that works. I mean, you know, that that must be super valuable as well, um, you know, not just for for us as Frankston, but also yourself as an individual.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Yeah, you know, when um when we're all together, it's it's really cool to see how I think the two biggest things that came out of it for me outside of the game were just how purposeful things were in everything that they were doing from coaches and players alike, and then the intensity with which that was being delivered. So when they're doing their touch work, it's extremely purposeful, it's individualized to the player, you know, they're not working on things they don't need to. Um, and then when they're doing it, there's yeah, a layer of intensity around that. So, you know, how quick they're getting head to foot with their kicking, you know, all these sorts of things. It was it was really cool to see. So yeah, essentially all we did was pull the highest performers from every club and put them in the one room, and when you do that, you know, you deliver high outcomes. So it just was really motivating for me to you know stick my nose down and and keep working harder to hopefully play my part in just getting the club to where we think we need to be. So yeah, it was a great experience. Yeah, awesome, mate.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Well, we we might leave it there, mate. Um uh obviously it's Friday. Um, we're pretty excited. We all head out to Werriby uh tomorrow. Um big opportunity for the club to to make a statement out there, and uh it was great to see last night. We um, you know, we had quite a few fans down last night, you know, just down there supporting the boys, making a bit of noise, having a coffee, having a sausage. It was uh it was actually a really cool atmosphere down there last night. And I think it's something that we're gonna gonna continue through the season, particularly on the the away trip. So um that was really good, and I I think we're all looking forward to to traveling out there and uh and having a real crack at it, mate. So thank you very much for uh for joining us, and uh yeah, we'll we'll speak soon. Thank you very much for having me. Pleasure