James de Lacey, DIME Performance Head Coach, sits down with Dayne Norton, Head Trainer for the NZ Kiwis Rugby League side and NRL Trainer for the Vodafone Warriors NRL side as well as the Reserve Grade Warriors side.

We’re very fortunate to share with you the insight into Dayne’s vast and diverse experience, a typical week of a Professional Rugby League Player as well as tips and advice for an aspiring athlete. Check out the interview below!

Dayne Norton

Hey Dayno, how’s everything going?

Hey James very good thanks mate!

Good good, let’s crack straight into some questions. So how long have you been working with the Warriors and Kiwis and what is your role with each?

Yeah mate pretty fortunate I started at the Vodafone Warriors in 2003 in a part time position and was lucky enough to get a fulltime position in 2004. After a pretty tough season that year I was released for the 2005 season then was reinstated in 2006 and be here ever since. Having a job in professional sport can be very unpredictable and your job is pretty much on the line every year. My current role is NRL Trainer primarily looking at conditioning and speed on the field and assist Balin Cupples our High Performance Manager I am also in charge of our physical preparation of our reserve grade players and work with our NSW cup team during the season.

In terms of the Kiwis I’ve been involved with NZ since 2003 my role there is fairly the same as at the Vodafone Warriors looking after the player’s physical preparation – strength, conditioning, speed I’ve been really fortunate to be a part of some great Kiwis teams over the years and is a real honour being involved with this group.

Who has been the most influential on your career and why?

Good question but there’s probably a host of guys that have helped and mentored me along the way. Early on in my career was Keir Hansen who I learnt a lot about speed and strength training, then others like Carl Jennings, Brad Morris, Donnie Singe, Hayden Knowles, Ruben Wiki, Balin Cupples all have had positive influences in my career. But probably the main influence was Craig Walker whom I spent numerous seasons working under and we had some great success just his ability to build a positive training environment really stood out to me.

Give us an insight to what a typical week looks like for a professional rugby league player in terms of training.

The preseason phase is when we are the busiest. The players are training day in and day out for about 14 weeks and it’s a total grind. Mondays we would do some speed work along with skills and conditioning the players would have a lunch break then come back in for strength mainly upper body and possibly some extra cardio for those that need it. Tuesday would again be field based training either team work / con games and lower body strength in the afternoon and maybe yoga after that. Wednesday be a recovery type day with massage / swim. Thursday is basically a repeat of Monday and Friday a repeat of Tuesday. Some weeks the players will do wrestling or we will train off site and do some hill work on a Saturday morning.

In season the training decreases as we have to focus on preparing for games training times are reduced and spend less time in the gym. Typically, Monday may be a recovery type day with Tuesday and Wednesday we would do field and weights have Thursdays off with a light session on a Friday and play on Saturday.

Got any favourite exercises specifically for rugby or rugby league athletes for improving upper, lower body strength and speed?

I guess the big 6 exercises for me are Squats, Deadlifts, Hip Thrusts, Bench, Chin Ups plus the Power Clean

If you were given a group of young league athletes to train, what do you believe are the most important aspects to develop in regards to strength and conditioning?

Do the basics well – learn proper lifting technique this will set them up for the future.

What advice would you give to the up and coming league or union player looking to make it their career?

Attitude is everything be willing to work hard, make sacrifices and don’t get FAT.