20/09/2026
20 YEARS AGO TODAY.
That skinny kid with the Chopper Read goatee was the Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Southport Sharks VFL Team.
I was 21 years old.
Twenty-one.
Thrown into the deep end, working with former AFL players and responsible for virtually everything physical preparation:
Strength. Speed. Agility. Conditioning. Fitness testing. Recovery. Rehabilitation. Injury prevention. Warm-ups. Game-day preparation.
Monday recovery. Tuesday and Thursday training. Saturdays consumed by football.
And for one year, I was even the bloody runner-until the legendary Norm Dare tore strips off me after I forgot to make about six consecutive rotations.
This was an era when dedicated Strength & Conditioning roles in Queensland football were still very much in their infancy.
There was no blueprint.
No Instagram exercise gurus.
No GPS dashboards in every club.
You learned by studying, experimenting, asking questions, making mistakes and getting your hands dirty.
Across three years we played in three consecutive Grand Finals and won two premierships, and I had the privilege of preparing a number of players who went on to be drafted into the AFL. Check out the pics for a trip down memory lane)
Kurt Tippett.
Sam Gilbert.
Dayne Beams.
Joel Tippett.
Broc McCauley.
Hayden Kiel.
Brent Renouf.
Leigh Ryswyk.
Jesse White.
Wayde Mills.
But the memories aren't really about the résumé.
They're about the madness that came with it.
Getting former Brisbane Lions player Kevvy Tandogac some Spike from the USA-one of the first hardcore pre-workouts I'd ever seen-watching him nearly punch on with Doggy Watts in the backline, then getting a phone call at 3am:
“Joey, I can't bloody sleep.”
Really, Kev.
Or the day Warwick Capper appeared in the gym doing curls and announcing:
“Joey… curls get the girls.”
You couldn't make this stuff up.
Then there were the things the boys used to give me crap about.
After games and training I'd get them to take their boots off and walk barefoot for recovery. Known as earthing..
I also carried a glass water bottle everywhere because I wanted to avoid plastics, phthalates, microplastics and endocrine disruptors.
Apparently both made me a complete lunatic.
Twenty years later, when I run into the lads, these are often the exact things they remember:
“Joey, are you still walking around barefoot?”
“Still carrying that bloody glass bottle?”
Yep.
Still am.
Maybe I was just 20 years early.
Were mistakes made?
Absolutely.
But there was an enormous amount of passion, curiosity, work ethic and genuine care for the athletes.
I was learning on my feet every single day.
And I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.
Because those years helped build the coach-and ultimately the business-that exists today.
The craziest part?
Twenty years later, I'm now coaching some of those players' kids.
Different generation.
Same profession.
Same passion for developing athletes.
After more than two decades in this industry, I probably appreciate the opportunity Southport gave that 21-year-old kid more today than I ever could have back then.
Maxy Kennedy-legend.
Cotts.
Dare.
Crowley.
To the coaches who trusted me, the support staff who taught me, and particularly the players who backed me enough to keep me there:
Thank you.
You helped give a young coach his start.
Twenty years later…
I'm still coaching.
Still learning.
Still carrying the glass bottle.
Still telling athletes to take their bloody shoes off.
And still absolutely love it.
What an experience.
What a privilege.
And what a ride.
Thank you!
