About 

• Current Head of Conditioning for Australian Men’s Hockey Team (The Kookaburras)

• PhD - “Bilateral and Unilateral Resistance Training and Athletic Performance”

• ASCA Level 3 Master Prostructure coach

• 2022 ASCA S&C Coach of the Year

• 20 years experience in elite sport

I have been a Strength and Conditioning Coach working with elite athletes in Perth since 1999. During the final stages of my Masters degree, I was fortunate to be employed at the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) whilst coaching voluntarily in the West Coast Eagles gym (AFL). During this time at WAIS, I worked across all sports supported by the Institute, including swimming, rowing and pole vault. Leaving the WAIS Head S&C role and WCE in 2005, I became the inaugural Assistant S&C Coach at the Western Force in the expanded Super Rugby competition.

After almost 9 very enjoyable seasons in professional rugby union at the Force, I accepted a role as a Senior S&C Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) based in Perth, assigned to the national men's hockey team, The Kookaburras. After the 2016 Rio Olympics, with the reorganisation of the AIS, my role was transferred to Hockey Australia and I became the Head of Conditioning, responsible for both the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos, the women's national hockey team. It was a combination I thoroughly enjoyed. In July 2019, I reverted back to the original role with the “Kookas”.

I achieved my Australian S&C Association (ASCA) Level 3 in 2010 and became a Pro-Structure Master level coach. In 2012 I received the Bruce Walsh Award, the prestigious ASCA award recognising outstanding contribution to the ASCA. In 2022 I was awarded the “ASCA S&C Coach of the Year”.

Research

I have recently completed a PhD (2019) investigating the effect of unilateral and bilateral lower body resistance training on strength development and transfer to athletic performance. This (long) journey was supervised by Prof Rob Newton and A/Prof Prue Cormie, two excellent supervisors and researchers with a long history in strength and conditioning, both currently forging outstanding pathways in exercise oncology. You can find links to my PhD work and other research here.

Current Interests

After spending time with my home family and my Kookaburra family, a major passion of mine is the positive impact of exercise. From junior development, to elite athletes, exercise as medicine for lifestyle disease and cancer, to social and emotional benefits of physical activity, I am excited about the role of sport and exercise and determined to help as many people I can benefit from it. A lot of the links and resources I will make available will be in aid of improving the delivery and impact of exercise for health and well-being. Having been involved in elite sport for so long has allowed me to develop skills and networks that I want to share.