Collingwood overhauls fitness and medical department in bid to beat injury curse Jay Clark Herald Sun Pies overhaul fitness department COLLINGWOOD has made key changes to its medical and fitness department in a bid to help conquer its horror injury problems this year. The Pies have parted ways with club doctor Peter Baquie and strength coach Martin Girvan after an end-of-season club review. Respected Geelong doctor Chris Bradshaw has taken over from Dr Baquie while the Pies looked internally to replace weights guru Girvan and restructure the strength department. The fitness program will be overseen by high-performance manager Bill Davoren. The club has frequently increased year-on-year football spending but has been forced to make key cost cuts to prevent going over the league’s new footy tax. The Pies suffered an abysmal run of injuries that sidelined a string of key players including Ben Reid, Ben Sinclair, Nathan Freeman, Clinton Young, Dane Swan and Jamie Elliott with soft-tissue problems. Full-back Nathan Brown also endured season-ending shoulder surgery as the club missed finals for the first time in nine seasons. Reid, 25, was struck down with a recurring quad injury that restricted the All-Australian defender to only four games and a meagre 28 possessions for the year. The star key-position player headed overseas for a post-season holiday and is expected to start training with the rest of the senior Pies on November 17. Reid’s brother, Sam, from Sydney, said his sibling was targeting a full pre-season and was desperate to bounce back from a disastrous 2014. “This was a tough year for him, but I missed more than half of last year as well, so we’ve had (injury-ravaged seasons) back-to-back,” Reid told the Herald Sun. “But he’s looking positively towards next year and really just thinking to himself, ‘these things happen some years’ and that’s been the advice from our dad, who has played a lot of footy. “He is looking forward to a full pre-season and hopefully getting a full year together.” The gun swing man played four straight games towards the end of the season but hobbled off the MCG only minutes into the loss to Brisbane in Round 21. Sam Reid said despite the history of quad problems in the family, it could be overcome. “I think it is just a management thing, really,” Reid said. Ben Reid was used mainly in attack this season but his brother said a return to the backline might be on the cards. “He played all his junior career as a forward but being an All-Australian defender, I think he is probably a better defender.” Evan #letsbackbucks #gopies Former Geelong club doctor Chris Bradshaw has joined Collingwood. Source: Supplied Ben Reid is overdue for a change of luck. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Corp Australia
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 09:04:35 +0000
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