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

9.25am

Introduction

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.

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
Whats 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

Michael Poulton
Chair, AFL Research Board
Mark Evans
General Manager of Football Operations, AFL
Panel Discussion
Convenor: Col McLeod
Brendan McCartney
David Loader Coach North Ballarat Rebels

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 athletes will to train, in fact have important genetic components.