You're still shit Raiders.
Swans give Furner tips on how to blood a winning culture
Date January 22, 2013
Jon Tuxworth
THEY play vastly different sports, but Canberra coach David Furner wants his team to mirror elements of the Sydney Swans' renowned ''Bloods'' culture after paying a visit to the defending AFL premiers on Monday.
Furner travelled to the SCG to watch the Swans train, and picked the brain of Swans coach John Longmire about the secrets to the club's sustained success.
Sydney have missed the finals just once in the past 10 years, while the Raiders have been September spectators in every odd year since 2004. After learning some in-house secrets on the Swans' approach to recovery, sports medicine, rehabilitation and culture, Furner said he hoped to develop a long-term relationship with the club.
''I spent a good hour with John just talking about consistency, it was an area where we took a lot of interest,'' Furner said. ''Without giving too many secrets away, it's very simplistic the way they go about it.
''They've been very competitive for a long time and taking over from [former coach] Paul Roos, he [Longmire] has known the system there for quite a while and put his own touch to it.''
The Raiders recently unveiled an eight-man leadership group for this season, and have taken drastic steps to refine their culture after they won just six matches in a forgettable 2011 season.
Last year, they employed Melbourne-based leadership coach Sam Patterson to mentor their younger players. Furner wants his leaders to emulate the Swans' stalwarts and set a strict example for one of the youngest squads in the NRL.
''The Bloods culture is driven by the senior players, they set a benchmark and a standard, which he talked about when we were watching training,'' Furner said. ''They reward the one per centers. I talk about the one per centers, it's what the team relies on to win games and they're areas most people don't put much emphasis on.
''It's about doing your job and those little things that don't get noticed which is great to hear, because it's what we preach to our team.''
New strength and conditioning coach Nigel Ashley-Jones and football manager John Bonasera also accompanied Furner to the Swans.
Furner said they were encouraged Sydney's set-up wasn't that different to that established at the Raiders.
''Sports medicine and recovery, obviously they measure different areas more than we might but we are pretty close with what we're doing, that's a pleasing thing to come out of it,'' Furner said.
''They're not massive changes, there's a couple of areas we can tweak but we're not too far away. The work we've done with Sammy Patterson and our leadership group, we're going along the right lines.
''The things we're implementing and what we uphold as high values [are similar to Sydney's], there's a team that's won a premiership and been very successful.''
Furner said the fact the NRL has decided to schedule the first 20 weeks of the season for the first time this season is a significant advantage as they look to tweak aspects of their recovery.
''I think it's a big benefit, the players and coaches know and we can plan a lot more in advance with recovery than we used to,'' he said.
''We looked at the Swans because of their success and they travel a lot like we do. There's a lot of similarities, and that's why we looked to establish a relationship there.
''We extended the opportunity to John and his staff to come down and have a look at our headquarters, and see what we do.''
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