Synbad wrote:
kingkerna wrote:
training centre isn't bad
"isn't bad" ........yup
But youd hardly say its better than what Collingwood and the Bummers are doing..(and WC Adelaide etc).. or Hawks.
Still we are in that second tier again.....I guess...
Not at all Synbad. Collingwood had the best facility for years at the
Lexus Westpac Centre. But these things quickly get superseded if you're not replacing gym equipment and/or have a staff who know what they're doing coupled with a board who support the science in fitness and recovery.
The staff are the experts and they need to be able to communicate their needs to the CEO. Just like a lot of other businesses. Carlton had a situation not long ago where only a small percentage of players were wearing the Catapult GPS units. That's because the decision to cover most of the team was vetoed. Even though the evidence was there. Even though other teams were obtaining advantage by knowledge and research - and even though the club employs a High Performance Manager on a pretty big salary (well over $300,000) and even though the club employs a Director of Sports Science Research who is highly regarded within the industry (but based interstate). I think we're over those hiccups now. The CEO and board have a better understanding of the needs and the spend necessary to keep up with the likes of Collingwood.
Mick Malthouse mightn't have a Masters in Exercise Science - but he comes to us after having worked with David Buttifant who's undoubtedly the best in the business.
The supporter is well aware (and I think these results are published) of what the spend was for the football department. The competition average is about $17million. The difference between the highest paying football department spend, Collingwood and lowest - North Melbourne is $5.5million. Remember that while football department spend includes player wages and other factors that are capped by the AFL, fitness and conditioning costs are not.
Collingwood will soon have the best facility (again)...but that's a refitting after 10 years. Carlton's facilty/equipment is only 2 years old. Still relevant. On a par with the Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Adelaide and Richmond whose facilities were built around the same time. On a par with far wealthier European Football clubs. And there's no secrets here. All the clubs walk through the new facilities of other clubs because that's the way the AFL works. Essendon* will have pretty good facilities when they finally get finished out at Tullamarine. They would have the worst facilities at Windy Hill.
Carlton's aquatic facility was the first of its kind in Australia with underwater treadmills that operate in hot and cold pools. When these were built, Melbourne was still filling 'wheelie bins' full of ice-water.
"Isn't bad" is not an accurate description of Carlton's facilities. "World Class" is far more apt.
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