How to improve as a player?

[Wardy]

Hello everyone. Just signed up to the forum.

I'll keep this as short as possible to avoid going on. I've played rugby for over 10 years now and the season finished a couple of weeks ago. I have to be honest and say that the last few years haven't been great for me on the field. I've missed out on selection for a couple of rep teams and haven't really been consistent enough and I didn't finish the season well. I've had a few injuries that have been frustrating and we've had a couple of different coaches who have come in. I'm moving away in a couple of months and really want to improve myself in pre season. So here is a little bit more info:

Age: Just turned 18
Position: Full back
Height: 5'9
Weight: 75 kg

In a typical week I will work on my skill set most days whether it be kicking from hand, catching the high ball, passing etc and on non training days I will alternate between cardio (running, bike, wattbike) and weights (mainly upper body).

What sort of schedule would you guys recommend and does anyone have any tips that will help my game in my position. I want to be better and if I'm not good enough to play at a higher level I want to be able to say I've done my best and have given all I've got.

Thanks for looking at this

 

[Rich Taff]

First up, welcome to the forum

Now, regarding your question.

Wow, that's a tough one.

I think it would be a good idea to try to get hold of some 'wide angle' footage of fullbacks, as the stuff you see on TV only tends to cover a couple of seconds at a time. Positioning is a really important aspect of the game, which you don't tend to see due to this.

Often it looks like the opposition kick straight to the fullback, but what's not taken into account, is the original position when the ball is kicked. (Halfpenny is a prime example of this, as his positional sense is fantastic, but he also has the speed to make it look like he's been waiting in that position all along (when the cameras show the catch))

I think a lot of the 'intelligence' involved in fullback play isn't what you do after you receive the ball, it's what you do to get ready to receive it.

Hopefully that's a bit helpful, and good luck.

 

[Wardy]

First up, welcome to the forum

Now, regarding your question.

Wow, that's a tough one.

I think it would be a good idea to try to get hold of some 'wide angle' footage of fullbacks, as the stuff you see on TV only tends to cover a couple of seconds at a time. Positioning is a really important aspect of the game, which you don't tend to see due to this.

Often it looks like the opposition kick straight to the fullback, but what's not taken into account, is the original position when the ball is kicked. (Halfpenny is a prime example of this, as his positional sense is fantastic, but he also has the speed to make it look like he's been waiting in that position all along (when the cameras show the catch))

I think a lot of the 'intelligence' involved in fullback play isn't what you do after you receive the ball, it's what you do to get ready to receive it.

Hopefully that's a bit helpful, and good luck.

Thanks mate. I really appreciate that

 

[Zed]

Look at your fitness for starters. I was one of the fittest at my rugby club, when I got into triathlon I learned very quickly how fit I really was or more to the point wasn't. As I got much fitter with triathlon I was amazed at how much more involved I could get in the game without getting fatigued. I was able to do my job as a player, but also chase down guys that other players had missed. A good easy interval session you can try is a 400m training session. I do 15 x 400m on the 2.30, so coming in around 1.20, leaving 1.10 later. So get as fit as you can. Skills wise, work constantly on whatever skills you lack, I used to be a tard at kicking and am still capable of kicking like a tard, but I practise constantly. Don't torpedo kick if you do. In Australia competitive touch is very popular and played to a high level. To put that in perspective, the Western Force had some players in a team in my comp and they were only in the 3rd division. So a very good, competitive sport and you can learn a lot if you play this game at a reasonable level. It's obviously not the same as rugby union, but there are a lot of cross-over skills you'll pick up such as running lines, certain defensive patterns and general ball-skills. Your fitness will improve too. One of the reasons why Australia and NZ are such skilled rugby players is that they probably played touch as kids and to a high level.

 

[Five Meters Out]

Hey Wardy.
What's your tackling like. You make no mention of it. Try the Pat Lam video on tackling. It's the best I have seen. However good technique is only half the answer. The rest is in your head. Do you commit fully to the tackle? If you become noted as a brave tackler, you'll start making those rep teams alright.
Re Zed's advice. For a Fullback I would only use those 400 repeats during off season. During the season a fullback should drop to fast 40 - 100 metre repeats. Look for You tube clips on running form and sprinting faster.
There you go. Improvement in tackling and speed. That's your answer to getting selected at a higher level.

 

[Kempistry]

Kind of hard to comment on this from afar. The only thing I'll state is that you are a bit light at 75KG. If it is pre-season I don't see why you need to mainly focus on upper body strength training.

I'd think the best way to determine what you need to improve would be to ask one of your former coaches. Your problems might be positional, skills, strength, tackling, kicking. Who knows from here. I've seen a lot of fullbacks practice kicking non-stop and become quite proficient, but can't tackle/ruck/play rugby all that well.

 

[Wardy]

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks very much for taking the time to reply and give me some advice, I really appreciate it.

My defence isn't too bad IMO but I guess it's not really up to me to say. If anything I have the opposite problem in that I've not been blessed with bags and bags of pace but I can act as an extra ball player and I have a good kicking game. You'd probably look at me in that sense and say "he looks like a 10" but I'm pretty vocal and have played at 15 for a while now so it's probably too late to change and learn how to play at 10.

Got my figures wrong, I'm probably 79kg on a good day but dip between 75-80 during the season. Was injured for a while so fitness took time to build up but getting there now.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Kempistry]

You are only 18, not too old at all to change positions. As a fellow ex slow fullback/winger there's only so much you can do to impress - at the end of the day you need pace or size. Sounds like you are dedicated so it might be worthwhile to focus your energy on a position where you can continue to improve without being held back by one limiting factor. You can always play 10 a level lower to hone your skills or maybe even 12 if your team doesn't need a real bruiser at the spot.

 

[Wardy]

You are only 18, not too old at all to change positions. As a fellow ex slow fullback/winger there's only so much you can do to impress - at the end of the day you need pace or size. Sounds like you are dedicated so it might be worthwhile to focus your energy on a position where you can continue to improve without being held back by one limiting factor. You can always play 10 a level lower to hone your skills or maybe even 12 if your team doesn't need a real bruiser at the spot.

Thanks mate. Do you think physically I'd be more suited to 10 or 12? A lot of the 12's we come up against are physical guys who carry hard rather than second playmakers. What do you reckon?

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Thanks mate. Do you think physically I'd be more suited to 10 or 12? A lot of the 12's we come up against are physical guys who carry hard rather than second playmakers. What do you reckon?

Probably 10 as most selectors will opt for a big, crash ball 12 over a play maker so if you're goal is to get into rep teams, I wouldn't have thought 12 is where you'll get in. Moving to 10 is also quite a big change so if I were you I'd stay at fullback if that's where you've been playing.

 

[Kempistry]

Probably 10 as most selectors will opt for a big, crash ball 12 over a play maker so if you're goal is to get into rep teams, I wouldn't have thought 12 is where you'll get in. Moving to 10 is also quite a big change so if I were you I'd stay at fullback if that's where you've been playing.

Short-term seems like 15 is your only option, but you have loads of rugby ahead of you if you want to take a step back and change spots.

 

[Wardy]

Cheers fella's. I'll play where I'm picked which is gunna be 15 again next year but I'm happy with that. We have two runners in the centre which frees me up to act as a bit of a 12 in attack anyway or jump into 10 if I see something is on.

There's no issue of height being an issue at a higher level at 15 is there? Obviously not all teams play with the structure we do so it depends on how they want me to play I guess. I'm just off 5'9.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Cheers fella's. I'll play where I'm picked which is gunna be 15 again next year but I'm happy with that. We have two runners in the centre which frees me up to act as a bit of a 12 in attack anyway or jump into 10 if I see something is on.

There's no issue of height being an issue at a higher level at 15 is there? Obviously not all teams play with the structure we do so it depends on how they want me to play I guess. I'm just off 5'9.

Height can help when competing for the high ball but just look and Halfpenny and you'll see that it really won't stunt your performance that much.

 

[Five Meters Out]

I reckon you are the next Ben Smith Wardy.