Nine wrote:Mike said that there are times that he thinks Feka’s being taken off too soon, but he realises that Brian and John Pendlebury, up in the stands, have a better view than he does and can read it when teams start to target Feka – so it’s their call.
Well quite often I have seen players subbed when you think what on earth did he do that for. I have seen Feka go off when we have been in the oppositions 20 for example and I recall Higham being take off for the last 10 minutes of the Les Cata game to be replaced by McIllorum who for all his potential is inexperienced and all of a sudden Les Cats get a roll on up the middle.
I still think Noble subs by the clock not what is going on as regards play on the pitch and Feka is the best example. He goes on for a set number of minutes IMO and he comes off after that regardless of the game situation.
As to the general notion a few runs up Rivington Pike would not benefit Feka I am not convinced. It isn't about stamina as he himself has said he can stay on longer but about being the right weight. To me he just looks a bit overweight so an Inga type training regime (which didn't do him any harm at all) would benefit Feka in the same way I am sure. His muscle mass would not be reduced but any excess body fat would which ought to make him more explosive as he has less redundant mass (fat) to get moving whatever type of muscles he has "fast twitch" or otherwise.
quote="Nine"]At the Riversiders meeting last night were Assistant Coach Phil Veivers and Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Forshaw. The main points as I remember them (and anyone else who was there, please add things as I can’t remember all of it) were:
On Feka (cpwigan, Josie did you proud!): Mike explained that it is not a question of Feka not being fit enough to do more game time. When he is on he is devastating and if it were possible to leave him on for longer and retain the same level of performance then the coaching staff would do so. However, the nature of Feka’s body, his genetics, is that he is blessed with strength and explosive power - what Mike called a “fast-twitcher†(I’ll explain that in a minute). This means that after a burst of activity his body needs some recovery time before he’s ready to go again with the same effect.
Further conditioning will not change that physical fact - any more than you could condition a 100-metre runner to run a succession of 100-metre races at the same speed, one straight after the other. It means that while we’re on attack he is devastating but once we’re defending for any length of time the other team targets him around the ruck area to use up his fuel and take advantage of the fact that he’s less agile than the others. Mike said that there are times that he thinks Feka’s being taken off too soon, but he realises that Brian and John Pendlebury, up in the stands, have a better view than he does and can read it when teams start to target Feka – so it’s their call.
The fast twitch muscle fibres help you move explosively, with speed and strength, but tire more quickly then slow twitch fibres. Slow twitch fibres fire more slowly but are more efficient in using oxygen and help with sustained, steady muscle use. We are all built differently, so top sprinters (and power players like Feka) have more fast twitch fibres than the norm, whereas long-distance runners (and e.g. a possible 80-minute player like Andy Coley) are blessed with more slow-twitch fibres.
That’s my explanation, by the way, so if it’s wrong don’t blame Mike! I’ve read that Olympic sprinters have about 80 percent fast twitch fibres, while marathon runners tend to have 80 percent slow twitch fibres – so no amount of running up Rivington Pike is going to turn Feka into an 80-minute prop (at least at the level of performance we’d want) while no amount of strength conditioning is going to turn Mark Calderwood into an impact forward. It’s how they’re made. Mike said that Inga was a centre which is an easier position to play and requires different things of your body than prop like Feka, so it's hard to make a comparision.
We do have a sprint coach - it used to be Jenny Meadows (the Olympic athlete’s) coach but as they are now working towards Beijing there’s a new one in place, and they work with both forwards and backs on a Tuesday.
Thanks Nine, for putting a more detailed report from last night, you're very expert at putting everything across (much more than I am ) and as I said I've a memory like the proverbial sieve only with much bigger holes.
It's an age thing
Anyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
Nine wrote:Mike said that there are times that he thinks Feka’s being taken off too soon, but he realises that Brian and John Pendlebury, up in the stands, have a better view than he does and can read it when teams start to target Feka – so it’s their call.
Well quite often I have seen players subbed when you think what on earth did he do that for. I have seen Feka go off when we have been in the oppositions 20 for example and I recall Higham being take off for the last 10 minutes of the Les Cata game to be replaced by McIllorum who for all his potential is inexperienced and all of a sudden Les Cats get a roll on up the middle.
I still think Noble subs by the clock not what is going on as regards play on the pitch and Feka is the best example. He goes on for a set number of minutes IMO and he comes off after that regardless of the game situation.
As to the general notion a few runs up Rivington Pike would not benefit Feka I am not convinced. It isn't about stamina as he himself has said he can stay on longer but about being the right weight. To me he just looks a bit overweight so an Inga type training regime (which didn't do him any harm at all) would benefit Feka in the same way I am sure. His muscle mass would not be reduced but any excess body fat would which ought to make him more explosive as he has less redundant mass (fat) to get moving whatever type of muscles he has "fast twitch" or otherwise.
Dave
Dave, that's your opinion and you are entitled to have one and ex[press it, even though it's based on what you think and what it "looks like" to you. For myself, I prefer to give credence to the considered opinion of someone with considerable experience and education in this specialist field and who has worked closely with the player involved.
the thing about the ref dosnt help when the away fans are allowed no musical intruments and told to be quoiet because the cricket are palying ,didnt tell the ss to be queit did they
Oh, and a bit of extra detail in addition to what Josie mentions - Karl Pryce's injury has improved, the bones have knitted back together at the last check so pending final clearance he is about to start back in full training.
Nine wrote:Mike said that there are times that he thinks Feka’s being taken off too soon, but he realises that Brian and John Pendlebury, up in the stands, have a better view than he does and can read it when teams start to target Feka – so it’s their call.
Well quite often I have seen players subbed when you think what on earth did he do that for. I have seen Feka go off when we have been in the oppositions 20 for example and I recall Higham being take off for the last 10 minutes of the Les Cata game to be replaced by McIllorum who for all his potential is inexperienced and all of a sudden Les Cats get a roll on up the middle.
I still think Noble subs by the clock not what is going on as regards play on the pitch and Feka is the best example. He goes on for a set number of minutes IMO and he comes off after that regardless of the game situation.
As to the general notion a few runs up Rivington Pike would not benefit Feka I am not convinced. It isn't about stamina as he himself has said he can stay on longer but about being the right weight. To me he just looks a bit overweight so an Inga type training regime (which didn't do him any harm at all) would benefit Feka in the same way I am sure. His muscle mass would not be reduced but any excess body fat would which ought to make him more explosive as he has less redundant mass (fat) to get moving whatever type of muscles he has "fast twitch" or otherwise.
Dave
Dave, that's your opinion and you are entitled to have one and express it, even though it's based on what you think and what it "looks like" to you. For myself, I prefer to give credence to the considered opinion of someone with considerable experience and education in this specialist field and who has worked closely with the player involved.
Well I don't think my eyes are deceiving me in that Feka appears larger this season than last and that some of his bulk is a little flabby!
I am sure Feka has the explosive muscle type etc etc and I am also sure what the experts say about different types of athlete are correct but I am not sure what any of that has to do with him being possibly overweight.
I spoke to somebody whose opinion I value and he says that re Feka what MF says is correct. You can convert 1 type of fast twitch muscles to improve endurance but it may affect his destructive ability. It is very hard to comment without detailed data re an individual.
My only reservations are that our interchange are IMO 99% pre determined prior to kick off and players would have set time limits give or take - or + say 2 minutes. I looked at the first 11 games and Feka was playing the same amount of times and often interchanged at the same time in each game.
Sam Thaiday has been converted from an interchange impact forward to a 60 minute+ forward. However, as I said earlier you need to know the exact individual make up.
Nine wrote:Oh, and a bit of extra detail in addition to what Josie mentions - Karl Pryce's injury has improved, the bones have knitted back together at the last check so pending final clearance he is about to start back in full training.
Well this is good news because I had started to wonder if he had a career ending injury that was never going to heal.
I don't suppose they put a time-scale on any of this (final check, starting trianing etc)?
) and as I said I've a memory like the proverbial sieve only with much bigger holes. 
