Leigh Colbert and Loris Bertolacci and VCFL
Leigh Colbert asked me to do the fitness in 2006 for the VCFL team. It was also an opportunity to work with Jeff Oxley who used to be the physio at GFC with me. Leigh organized a few sessions at the Lexus Centre and dragged everyone in from James Hird to Paris Hilton .
Anyway off to the Gold Coast ( hard gig in July!) and game 1 at Carrara . It was pouring and we played and lost and then the other games were called off. That night we hatched a few plans to get through the tournament with more rotations, more gatorade and better breakfasts. Also Anthony Stevens and I had a dance off that night. I won. He was a great footballer but wont get a gig on Dancing with the Stars.
We were eating brekkie smack bang in surfers and bacon and eggs was the favourite. We had to change that to cereals and toast. Mind you I must admit the original brekkie was nice but not sports science friendly. Recovery sessions at Surfers and Lectures on the beach were the go.
Next day the games were at Surfers and due to the rain the rooms were shocking. So Leigh decided to set up the rooms under some trees in a park about 400m away from the ground. Shaded and airy and simply beautiful. I poured Gatorade down their throats and we won all our games and clawed our way into the finals the next day.
Finals day was a challenge. Real hot. I went all over the Southport ground and sought out anything I could use. Fans, cups, ice and so on. I made the VCFL staff buy so much drink and ice and get so many fans they thought I was crazy. We warmed up in a primary school under some trees about 100m away from the ground to get away from the sun and there was a concert being set up there. The organizers of the concert turned the speakers up to 100% volume and let loose with classics like “eye of the tiger” whilst we warmed up. Out of control and more gatorade.
Game was a beauty versus ACT. We went into the shade at the breaks but ACT stayed in the sun. So be it. We rotated the players and poured gatorade down their throats and cooled them down at every opportunity. Basic heat prevention strategies. We were a goal behind at the end of the game and Joe McLaren ( ex St Kilda) kicked a huge goal from the centre. Massive kick that if done in an AFL final would have been legendary. Extra time and we bolted away and maybe that is when the cooling and gatorade kicked in. Thats the theory. Big day and big win and great fun.
No comments yet.
loris bertolacci 
Leave a comment