15th  AFL  GRAND  FINAL  SYMPOSIUM  

“The  Challenges  of  developing  and  maintaining  talented  performers”    Friday  2nd  October  2015  –  The  Arena:    Ground  Floor,  NAB  Building,  700  Bourke  St,  Melbourne.      

Southern  Cross  Station  –  Etihad  Stadium  concourse      

Developed  by  the  AFL  Research  Board,  together  with  the  AFL  Football  Operations  Department,  the  AFL  Doctors  Association,  AFL  Physiotherapists  Association  &  AFL  High  Performance  Managers  Advisory  Group  

 

9.00am   Tea/Coffee  on  Arrival  

9.15am   Welcome   Michael  Poulton    Chair,  AFL  Research  Board    

9.25am   Introduction  Mark  Evans  General  Manager  of  Football  Operations,  AFL  

9.30  am  

Talent  Development:      Keynote  Presenter:    Fergus  Connolly    A  universal  perspective  on  challenges  of  player  development  in  field-­‐sports  –  what  the  AFL  can  learn  from  the  GAA,  NFL,  EPL  &  RWC.  

Panel  Discussion  Convenor:  Col  McLeod  Brendan  McCartney    David  Loader  Coach  North  Ballarat  Rebels    

10.30  am   Morning  Tea  

10.45  am  

Keeping  your  talent  in  the  game  –  Injury  Prevention  – Hamstring  –  nordboard  technology    – Shoulders  –  research  outcomes  &  management  practice    – ACL:  What  are  we  learning  from  the  audit  ?    

Panel  Discussion    Convenor  Anthony  Schache  David  Opar,  Prof.  Andrew  McIntosh  Courtney  Lai  

12.00  pm    

Perfecting  performance  with  nutrition  – Body  composition:  Practicalities  and  considerations  using  dexa  

scanning  – Low-­‐carbohydrate  diets  for  AFL  players:  what's  the  evidence?    

Panel  Discussion    Convenor  Simone  Austin  Presenters  –  Emily  Walker:  Collingwood  FC    Sarina  Lococo  –  Essendon  FC  

12.45  pm     Lunch    

1.15  pm    

Keeping  players  safe:    Managing  concussion  – Using  video  for  the  assessment  of  concussion  – Long  term  management  of  concussion  – What’s  new  in  managing  concussion  

Panel  Discussion    Convenor;    Dr.  Peter  Harcourt  Dr.  Dr.  Gavin  Davis  /  Dr.  Mike    Dr.  David  Maddocks,  

2.00  pm     Where  to  next  for  Talent  Keynote  Presenter:    David  Epstein      

Convenor:    Lawrie  Woodman  –  AFL    

 Dr.  Fergus  Connolly:  Dr.  Fergus  Connolly  was  the  Director  of  Elite  Performance  at  the  San  Francisco  49ers  in  2014-­‐15.  Connolly  identified  and  brought  the  code-­‐breaking  NRL  star  Jarryd  Hayne  to  the  attention  of  the  49ers  mid  way  through  last  season.  Prior  to  that  he  spent  three  years  as  a  performance  consultant  to  teams  in  the  NFL,  NBA,  EPL,  GAA  and  International  rugby,  assisting  teams  coordinating  and  developing  cutting  edge  performance  protocols.  Connolly  worked  as  a  sports  scientist  for  the  Welsh  Rugby  Union,  strength  &  conditioning  for  the  Bolton  Wanderers  FC.  He  specializes  in  innovative  approaches  and  technologies  to  maintain  player  health  and  optimize  performance.  A  native  of  Monaghan,  Ireland,  Connolly  earned  his  PhD  in  computer  integration-­‐based  optimization  from  the  University  of  Limerick.    David  Epstein:    David  Epstein  writes  about  sports  science  and  medicine,  Olympic  sports,  and  is  an  investigative  journalist.  The  Sports  Gene  was  a  top  10  New  York  Times  best  seller  and  tackles  the  great  nature  vs.  nurture  debate.  He  investigates  the  so-­‐called  10,000-­‐hour  rule  to  uncover  whether  rigorous  and  consistent  practice  from  a  young  age  is  the  only  route  to  athletic  excellence.  Along  the  way,  Epstein  dispels  many  of  our  perceptions  about  why  top  athletes  excel.  He  shows  why  some  skills  that  we  assume  are  innate,  like  the  bullet-­‐fast  reactions  of  a  baseball  or  cricket  batter,  are  not,  and  why  other  characteristics  that  we  assume  are  entirely  voluntary,  like  an  athlete’s  will  to  train,  in  fact  have  important  genetic  components.