Brothers Future Prems (FPA) & Prem’s academies (PA) concluded recently after an 8-week program that saw 106 players ranging from U13’s to Premier Grade. The program was headed by the Director of Rugby Dave Wells who said “The program is designed to challenge and develop our players while also providing a development pathway for our coaches”. Denis Skillen took the lead in delivering the FPA and was supported well by Adrian Nathanielsz, Johan Smit & Tamati Young. Development coaches were also selected with Chad Capelli & Bill Whyte, Ricky Johnstone & Shaun Ilton assisting with the coaching. The PA was led by Dave Wells and supported by Connor McDougall and new Prems Head coach Ben MacDougall with Denis Skillen also assisting. Our Premier Grade S&C coach Jake Bell looked after the SAQ component, focussing on speed.

The academies were well supported by the Western Force with Tim Sampson (Head Coach) & Nick Hensley (Defense Coach) both putting the players through their paces. “We have been very fortunate in having such a high involvement from the Force, with Brynard Stander, Ian Prior, Jeremy Thrush & Richard Kahui all attending to do some coaching as well, in fact, most of them attended multiple sessions”. Dylan Parsons, Western Force Academy Head Coach, was also on hand to run the boys through some unstructured games. Our boys certainly gained a lot out of the experience”. Wells added.

The program focussed on 4 training phases with Attack & Defense skills, Position-specific skills & finished with Game sense. A heavy focus was around unstructured games which the players thoroughly embraced. Our coaches took a lot away from the program which will serve them well as they look to head into preseason with their respective age groups.

In addition to this academy, Jake Bell & Sam Long have been working with 25 Premier Grade & Colt players, delivering an in gym, strength, and conditioning program which spans over 14 weeks before breaking for Xmas. This program will enter its second phase in the New Year as the players ready themselves for the upcoming season. Check out all the photos & videos here