Jack de Belin believes St George Illawarra’s recruitment off the field is one of the big reasons for the club’s explosive start to the season.
The Dragons have won three of their opening four games, sit third on the ladder and are the first team to score 100 points.
The vast improvement from last season is no fluke, with the club bringing in fresh faces behind the scenes to lead an intense and at times gruelling pre-season.
Nathan Pickworth took over from longtime performance head Tony Ayoub as head of performance and medical science, while strength and conditioning coaches Andrew Rondinelli and Alex Clarke also joined the club.
Clarke and Rondinelli both come from AFL backgrounds, with Clarke working previously at the Brisbane Lions and Hawthorn. Rondinelli, also a performance nutritionist, was a coach with Port Adelaide Power before joining the ATP tour working for Thanasi Kokkinakis.
And for de Belin the benefits have been career-changing.
“I think it’s just given us a new, fresh perspective. Instead of having the same old rugby league heads... it brings in people with a different perspective and more of a science background. So in a sense it’s not just old school rugby league drills,” he said.
“There was a lot more high intensity, gruelling kind of sessions. A lot was asked and required and a lot was given back. I think that’s helped as well.
“I definitely feel stronger. I’m weighing 105 kilos now so last year I probably played at about 101. I’ve been heavier before but I don’t think I was ready for it. I was still young, I put it on too quick and wasn’t ready for it. Fitness wise I still feel schmick, I can play 80 minutes pretty easily. But my strength and power is definitely better this year.”
It’s not surprise then that de Belin has started the season so strongly, playing arguably some of the best football of his career.
Euan Aitken is another who has benefited, with the Country Origin centre a fan of the regime imposed by Pickworth, Clarke and Rondinelli.
“Obviously those three have all been important,” Aitken said.
“Everyone in the gym has created a good culture. Everyone’s pushing each other to make sure they’re lifting properly. Sometimes you can go into the gym and just go through the motions because you might be sore. But this year everyone is challenging each other to be better and you can see the results in the gym.
“Everyone is lifting 10 times more than they did last year. I feel stronger. Obviously my fitness levels have always been a little bit higher because it’s something I’ve always been good at. But after a couple of weeks of fitness I was already doing 20.5 on the yoyo test so it was a quick transition for me.”
The Dragons will look to continue their impressive start to the season when take on the desperate Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium on Sunday. But St George Illawarra won’t be taking them lightly despite the Tigers’ one win from four and having already lost their coach.
“The NRL every week you never know what you’re going to get. You can’t take [anyone] too lightly but I feel like anyone put in front of us at the moment if we’re playing our best footy we can win the game,” de Belin said.
“If we string a few wins together now it will definitely set us up for the rest of the season.”
