S3E58 · Jason Cox: Physical Preparation for Cricket

Righto, welcome back to the Virtus podcast. It's been a minute. I don't even know what season this is, but we're launching for a new season. This is not the first episode that will release this season, but it'll release in due time. It's been a minute since I've recorded one of these two, so it could be a bit rusty, Coxy. But my first guest for season four, five, six, I don't know, of the Virtus performance podcast is Jason Cox, owner of High Performance Cricket, and most importantly, coach of Darcy Murr at the Box Hill Hawks. Mate, Darcy Murr is honestly, he is a GOAT, mate.

I reckon he missed a single rep or set or anything I've put in the program all over it. Darcy Murr, mate, you're an absolute gem. That was literally going to be my first question, like, what's it like to coach Darcy Murr? Oh, mate. Like, me and a deal with my high performance manager, we'll just be like, "Mate, if every player likes Darcy Murr, our job would be just the best thing of all time." Well, it is already the best thing of all time, but he is just an absolute, like, he sets the standards, and it's like his first year in the VFL program, and he set the standards.

We had a little award after every single month, like, we give out, like, a big protein tub for the best gym-goer of the month. Then Darcy Murr, I think he was the first one to get it, and we probably could give it to him every other time. That's why he's gotten so thick and juicy, because he's just winning these protein tubs every single week, every single month. On the best program, obviously. Yeah, well, that too. That too. That's funny, because that echoes a very similar conversation we've had here at Virtus, and myself and Lachie have had many, many times.

It's just, if every member was like Darcy Murr, then they'd be flying. What sort of traits that Darcy elicits makes him so good, and that you wish other people would replicate? Oh, it just gets things done. Like, no matter what sort of situation, if they have, like, a couple, with the constraints of VFL footy, and not having the, like, training at night, things like that. Let's say the club puts in, like, a dinner at 7.30, and we get off the truck at 7.10, and you're like, "Well, where's our 40-minute gym session gone?" No matter what,

like, you know, he has to be upstairs for dinner, he'd be like, "Nah, I'm getting my gym stuff done," because that's more important for his performance, things like that. He's just ruthless with how he gets stuff done. Just such a nice all-around kid as well, like, respectful, can banter with him too, always listens, wants to learn. Just, yeah, awesome. Awesome to see him get a couple of games as well. So, he keeps his first goal, which is nice. He's Ripper. Absolute Ripper. Gets shit done. Ruthless. Wants to learn. What else did you say? Ah, respectful. Respectful.

Nice. Good-looking. Emulate those five things. Good-looking. Well, I can't do anything to help that in myself, so I'm fucked there, but... Nah, I'm pretty fucked. If I can emulate those five things, I'll be in a good place. 100%. I was about to say cricket pre-season's kicking off, but cricket season's well and truly kicking off. How's things looking at high-performance cricket? Nah, it's good. A few of the boys playing their first game, higher grades and things like that, which is nice. I've had a couple of boys come back from playing, like, Winters in Darwin and UK, who are hopefully pushing for some second-11 opportunities for Victoria and things like that.

So, yeah, it's Round 1 of Victoria this week. Bit of rain about, so only half the sort of grades got on, half the sort of teams got on this week. But, nah, it's good. Looking forward for the boys to fully get started. Hopefully, next week, the rain holds off. I was going to say, I'm not deep in the cricket scene, but it seems from an outsider looking in, it seems that local cricket, every single year, Round 1, at least, sometimes Round 2 and 3, has just cooled off because of the rain. They usually don't get on the track.

What's your experience with that? So, last year, it was the first five weeks that got rained out. So, as I was sort of, like, living my own career, so I started to, like, lose a little bit of interest and passion to be the best player I can. It actually became a little bit of a blessing disguise. Last year, we got footy tripping, which is nice. - Oh, beauty. - Last year, we got Caulfield Cup in, which is nice. I think the year before, Round 1 was rained out as well and had a good mate of mine who we played cricket with.

He's from Bendigo, and he's 21st on that weekend as well, as I was able to go to Bendigo for that. So, as an athlete who sort of loses interest in performance himself, I was like, "Oh, this is great." - Yeah, that's funny because it seems, you know, we've got a lot of friends who play cricket, and it seems like they're almost praying for it to be washed out so they can go to the pub and get in the beers. And I see you've started posting a little series on Instagram about your return to cricket. You posted something the other day about, you know, cricket.

What do you think? Was cricket rained out for you the other day, correct? - Cricket rained out? Oh, what was it? No, so, yeah, cricket was rained out. - Yeah, and you sort of went through the process of what an athlete, a cricket athlete, should be doing if rained out to sort of keep themselves conditioned. Do you want to sort of go into that? - Yeah, 100%. So, I made a post about, like, when you get rained out or you miss a session, like, you don't want to de-load and miss a session, especially at the start of the year when you're on this, like, gradual build of increase in volume, increase in intensity, things like that.

So, I talked about, like, the things that are most likely to get you injured in a game if you aren't conditioned for is fast bowling and, like, running at high speed, so high-speed running. So, instead of, you know, sitting at home doing nothing until it's raining, like, can you get a bowling? - Or getting on the beers. - Or before you got on the beers, was probably more to the point, was to, you know, get out there, do a high-speed running session, get some high-speed meters in, don't go for a slow 5K sort of jog because, like, the human body is sort of conditioned to run.

For long, slow periods of time, so you're probably not going to get injured by doing that if you're going to play sport. So, if you're going to run fast in the sport, run fast, build your loads up there, don't let yourself de-load because with cricket, obviously, if you're in playing, like, two-day cricket and you're not running at high speed one week and you bat the next week and you sit down and do nothing the whole day, it's two weeks where you've de-loaded, so, and you're not going to obviously do a top-up when you're watching your team.

Bats are just not feasible with the logistics, so it's just being aware and being a bit proactive and just making sure your loads are up, high speeds are up, so you don't, you know, ping a hammy or a car for a quad and make sure you're bowling as well so you don't have that, like, that de-loads because, as we know, when you have a sunspike and load with bowling, that's where, like, all injuries are sorted, especially, like, stress injuries and that are more common, so just making sure your loads are nice and consistent throughout the season, which is the goal.

Does that top-up session on a, you know, a rainy day, perhaps, look different for a fast bowler and a batsman, for example? Yeah, I'd say so. I'd probably say, like, for a batsman, you probably want to do a little more change direction work in there as well because obviously when you're batting it, shuffling up and down between the wickets, bowlers, you probably want a bit more high speed metres, a bit longer distance because you're required to do that on game day, so that would probably be two main differences there. Do you have any, sort of,

parameters for, you know, fast bowlers or batters on rainy days, like, you know, you want them to hit x amount of metres, sprint, or x amount of change of directions, like, yeah? Not, like, not really. Like, if I had, like, GPS on all the players and things like that, like, you'd be able to say, like, I want you to hit, like, a percentage of that, blah, blah, blah, but with the guys I have and not having the budget in the business of this stage, to GPS everyone at this stage, but, like, just, just do the session that I tell you to do, essentially.

Do as I say. Do as I say, yeah, like, a lot of these things aren't quite feasible at the local level, are they? Yeah, 100%. Like, you get some, like, you get the research and, like, I do have GPS data from, like, from school cricket and things like that that we can use, so just top it up with some, some good high speed metres. Yeah, we sort of use that science to guide, but really just, you know, do what you think is best for them at that time. 100%, just doing something's better than doing nothing

at the end of the day and just, like, it's more like the thought of the session of, like, trying to get some speed in rather than just going, like, I'm going to run 5k, it's really, really slow. Yeah, that's sort of the main thing there. Just do something and then from there we can try and work on something a bit more, a bit more perfect when we get more data and things like that. Yeah, good. Tell us about your return, what's that been looking like? So, who are you playing for? Why are you returning? Because it seems like it's been a pretty last minute thing from what I'm seeing on socials anyway.

Just fill us in on your return. Yeah, so I went back and played from Kooi Rup in the Magoos on the weekend, which is, which is good fun, actually, playing with, like, me, playing with a couple of my really good mates, couple of my mates, like, younger brothers, my mate's dad, which is good fun. I haven't played for Kooi Rup since I went to Premier Cricket and I was, like, 14, 15, probably, so it's been a, it's been a hot minute since I've been there. That went up to 15 or something like that since I last played there, so it was good fun.

Had a few Saturdays free and the boys, a few boys are on, Kooi Rup's on a food trip this week, so a few boys are away, so I said, if you need me, just let me know. So, Rich Sanders, you're back in the ones this week, then? Oh, I wouldn't say that. No, the ones did a good job, actually. Knocked off Cardi, which is good. Yeah, nice. Playing against our big rival, Cardinia, this week and, yeah, not the biggest fans of Cardinia. We hate them? We fucking hate them. We really hate them. We've knocked them

off from plenty of flags now, which is nice, so we had the wood over them big time, so, yeah, I'm glad we got the win. What's it look like from a physical prep standpoint? Like, you know, how many months leading in did you start to prepare for cricket or, as you said, was it literally like a last minute thing and now you're sort of, you know, you're going to start preparing for the season ahead and taking it semi-seriously? Yeah, so the month, months would probably be inaccurate, maybe like one month, maybe, since I sort of

knew, since I sort of had the idea, well, maybe I might be out there and have a trundle, so I started bowling a little bit leading up to it maybe the last couple weeks. Got like, you know, two bowls in this week, did it with this, so I probably changed my gym around a little bit. But, you know, just staying genuinely fit in that, obviously, throughout my whole life is the idea, so just fine-tuning things a bit towards cricket, get some actual cricket training done. And in a bit more of a better routine now, so I should be able to fit it all in.

I'm lucky I work at Xavier at college as well and we have indoor nets, so even if it is raining there, I'll be able to still get bowling after work and things like that. So, I'm going to try and keep myself in reason with Nick, I don't want to get injured and I don't want to get embarrassed as well going back to playing. Yes, yeah, I guess, you know, we're so fixated on the physical prep, strength and conditioning side of things that we sometimes forget that there's an enormous skill component to it as well, like

it's all well and good to get bowling reps in to condition your body, but it's also a skill of being able to bowl as well. Absolutely, and the mental side of it as well, it's like the last thing I want is to come back stuck and pumped around by blokes who I think are no good, things like that, I'm like oh no, what am I doing with myself? So, I actually want to perform and actually play alright and play my role too. Yeah, good. So, getting your bowling reps in, you said you had to change your gym stuff around a little bit, what's that look like?

Well, I was just sort of maybe addressing a couple of previous things, I've had a couple of like side strains, so just a bit more lateral trunk work there and that's like with some holds and some loaded bends and things like that and then some more velocity based stuff with some med balls, a couple of adductor strains as well back in the day, so just getting a bit extra bit of loading in there. So, just like you're a fast bowler, correct? Fast would be generous these days, but try to. We try to be fast, yeah. Actually, used to be when I was 15.

So, your side strain, your adductor, are they common injuries that you might see in a fast bowler, are they like more specific to you or like these are common fast bowler injuries? Yeah, pretty common, especially the side strain, that's probably like the main soft tissue that they'll do, so yeah, I think like most fast bowlers we've done a side strain and yeah, adductor one too, yeah, I'd say relatively common as well. Do you put that down to load management or perhaps not physically preparing in the gym, recovery? Yes, I would say, like my first side strain, it was definitely like, looking back now, very, very silly how I did it.

It must have been coming out of the back of like a long weekend or something, so we're training back to back days and it was like my first year at like a premier club, so I was like trying to impress, blah, blah, super duper hot day. I reckon I bowled for like two, two and a half hours, just non-stop, which is a lot, which is so much and I was fatigued and sore. Come into the next session, day after, I think I must have bowled, like I must have bowled alright and they put me up in a high net, blah, blah.

Come in, try to bowled flat out, first up, can't remember if I warmed up properly or not, I'm going to hope I did. And then I just like, first form, ooh, give a nickel there, something there, next one, yeah, it's a bit sore, then like bang, third bowler, just like muck, muck, I've been stabbed in the side. Oh shit, done, shocking, but it was like, it would have been like four or five weeks before like a really big tournament as well. So I was racing against the cloth to get back for that, but got back, got back.

And how did we bowl? Not too bad, yeah, not too bad, not too bad, pretty good I think. From a weight room perspective, managing and, I don't like the word preventing, but we'll say it for this conversation, preventing the common fast bowler injuries, what are some of your lowest hanging fruits? Yeah, so just like, yeah, obviously with like the side. And you sort of brushed on it before, but repeat? Yeah, so just like with the size frames and that, just like having a bit of a mix of everything, like what does, what do the muscles do and how do they act when bowling and in general life.

So probably want to get them strong isometrically, probably want to get them strong in all ranges of motion. So like on a GHD, like side holds and side bends and things like that. So lateral flexion strength, anti-lateral flexion, then rotational strength, anti-rotational strength. And then you can do it like slow stuff as well, like isometric stuff, like the holds and wave stuff, but you also need to get some speed through it as well. So a gradual increase of load of bowling, that's probably the most like velocity stuff you'll do. And then also some med ball work in there as well.

Same sort of, it's like the same principle as it like for any part of the body, isn't it? Like you want to get it super duper strong in all the actions that it's going to do, exposed to a variety of different things and just as a coach pick the best amount of load and what type of load that the person needs at any certain point in time. And just, you know, just cover all bases and put them out there and hopefully everything goes well. Fingers crossed. Absolutely. We sort of glossed over this. Tell us more about high performance cricket and your role within it and the history.

Yeah, so I can, high performance cricket, I started about, so I started like me, like me S&C, sort of like Instagram page and that at the start. Yeah. When was this? I can have been, probably moved out of home and what about 18 months ago or so, I reckon? Yeah, so you would have been young, what 20, 21 then? 21 I think, 20, 21 in that sort of age realm. And then, yeah, sort of like picked up a couple of like, I was like, I was growing some programs for people and things like that, blah, blah, blah.

There's like no idea what I'm doing, no system, like no system of like their online backend stuff that like starts with that. Just like, I can write your program, how much mate? I'm like, oh God, I don't know. And then, so yeah, so I started like three or four people I was programming for and that. And I was just like, I don't know, I was just like looking them up, there was no one really doing like cricket, like strength conditioning sort of stuff. And we thought, a lot of my mates play like pretty high level cricket, I'm in that cricket circle and like I love me cricket, a bit of a snuff for it.

Closet snuff. And then, there's a bit of a gap sort of in the market with this and no one's really doing it. So start up Instagram page, start meshing a few bikes, say, would you be keen on me doing this? Because from my background, I interned at Crew Victoria in the S&C during lockdown. So I had like understood, and like my biggest mentor probably is from, he's the Hog Performance Manager at Crew Victoria. What's his name? Adrian Mott. Shout out, good. Absolute goat, absolute goat. All the boys love him, I love him. He's one of the best men of all time.

Has a house in Tramana actually now. Oh good. So if you want Airbnb, go through him. Absolutely. So from seeing like that environment, and then sort of being like a premier cricket, so playing like the level below, so it's like the VFL level for cricket. So like a bit of a disparity in the way our people train and prepare and the access to S&C and education levels is so different to what like the boys are getting in the Vic system, to what people are doing at like local or premier training. So I'm like, oh, there's an opportunity here for people to really like improve and get better and things like that.

So I sort of just made an Instagram page, started that. I had a mate, Emile Tate, who works out of training with mates. And so through him, I got, I was able to start like renting out a space to train with mates and get in there with a few guys who I had online already. And yeah, just went from there, started posting stuff, going from there, and then got in with Saad, trying to do some more business coaching, actually try and do it properly. As I saw, there's a lot of potential in it. And then, yeah, here we are about a year or so later and loving it, so good.

Let's go to work with like people that I know already, like I help them coach in the gym, talk absolutely shit and just like watch them get gains and hopefully dominate the weekend. It's fucking awesome. Yeah, I say this to a lot of people. It's ridiculous what we get to do for a job. And now you're coaching some of Victoria and Australia's most elite cricketers including Todd Murphy, who was recently overseas and representing Australia. What was the link there? Is he one of your childhood mates or someone you just reached out to or he reached out to you?

What's the Todd Murphy link? Yeah, I made Toddsy the player who he is today. No, we'll wear it. So I will say it, I am. Yeah, Todd, I made you the player you are today. Straighten the camera. I'll clip that. No, Toddsy is one of my best mates. We played some junior rep cricket together through there and through just playing that stuff, spending all pre-seasons together and going away on tours and stuff like that. And then he had obviously moved into Melbourne and got his big contract with his from like a trick away, Moama. Oh, God's country.

God's country, absolute place to be. Just from up there, I'm from Coorra, so obviously I'm the Victoria over there, but he moved into Melbourne and then when he was actually, the reason why I moved up to Melbourne was because of him. Because he was going away for a couple of Australia raid tours in Darwin and that, so he was like, "I'm going away. Do you want to come move into my room?" So I'm moving there to his room with his housemates and that with a couple of my best mates. Yeah, from there, just in the

off-season and that, need someone to train, come see me, we go talk shit, have a bit of a train together and that and it's good. Like even when he come back from his first international tour, like Maudie before the hot front was made, he was like, "Oh, go train with Coxie for a few weeks, get out of their professional system, go have a bit of fun." Like still obviously stay fit, but give yourself a bit of a mental refresher. So, it's pretty cool how Maudie has the trust in me to pass on an Australian playing aid, go train with him for a couple of weeks until you're ready to come back into the professional setting.

Yeah, what's some of the, because we chatted about Darcy Mer before, what's some of the traits that Todd Murphy has elicited both from a cricket standpoint, physical prep and just being a good bloke that's allowed him to flourish and be successful as he has been in the past 12 months? Yeah, I think like, it's just like the work ethic that comes down, like he wasn't even bowling or spin, like when I was playing with him like under 17, so he's already just started bowling at like a last like five or six years. Right, so what was he then as a youngster, like a batter was he?

He was a batter, he bowled his shocking mediums and he was captain, he used to always bowled himself way too much. And he started bowling his offies and I didn't really rate him at the start, I'd say like, "These are pretty shit." I'll be clipping that now. Like, "These are fucking garbage." Well, he was, he was bowling, but it turns out they're actually right. So yeah, no, he's like a work ethic, like just the way how he just like portrayed himself and has like unmatched confidence, just like just knows what he's going to do, has a plan, has all of his preparation, knows what he's going to do, just goes down and just does it.

I think how he's just level-headed, he's always been, like doesn't get flustered, doesn't panic, always in control of the situation, always calm and puts him real good to send. And then that's like the mental side, but then he's obviously put a lot of work into his skills and become a good enough player that way. But even like, yeah, back in the day, he could tell he was going to do something pretty special, like he's always been pretty measured and like a leader as well. Yeah, he's great. Level-headed, calm, confident, write them down, take notes. You said he was a batter and he bowled mediums and then he changed.

We see that with like Steve Smith, he like started his career like as a leg spinner, was he, and then become one of the greatest batsmen of Australia's history. How common is that? Do you see that people, they go through their youth as one thing and then when they make it to their adulthood or make it to the elite level, they've actually changed and become, they play a completely different role for the team. How common is that? Again, I'm not deep into cricket, so I wouldn't know, like, is this a really common thing that happens or is this quite rare?

It's quite difficult, yeah, very hard to do. Like you obviously go off and you do this one thing, like you dominate and you get picked in these junior teams with one thing and then you start, you know, pick up a different whole skill altogether. Yeah, even though you're playing the same sport, it's a completely different thing, so it's actually quite, I would imagine, quite hard. Do you have any insight into how difficult it would actually be to transition and completely just flip your role on its head? Because I guess it's not like footy, like growing

up as a backman and then playing as a forward, like a lot of the skills are sort of interchangeable, like you're literally executing a completely different skill. Yeah, it'd be, it's almost, it's actually like a different sport, like it's different and it'd be like, I actually don't know why other sports, obviously like you have, like NFL maybe, they have like two different, it'd be like playing, I don't actually watch NFL, but I know they have a defensive side and they're doing that and then going to a quarterback or something like that, but it's actually completely fine.

When you think about it, it's actually quite bizarre, quite a weird sport, cricket actually. It is. It's not cool to like it, so I don't really like it that much. I would say it's not cool to like it. Oh no, I beg to differ. I beg to differ, mate. That's a great sport. You talked about Adrian Mott, that was your time interning with Cricket Victoria, correct? Yeah. What are some of the best things you learnt from him, you said he was very influential in your career, like what are some of the best things you learnt from Mottie?

Just the way how all the, you know that quote, like athletes won't care about what you know until they know that you care, that's that sort of quote. I like that one. Yeah, the boys just like love him, just absolutely love him. He's such a good man and the boys know that if you have a joke with him, he'll do that, but they always do all the work that he says and he sets good standards but doesn't have to be so strict and rigid. He's more about creating an environment that you want to be, an environment that you want to perform and come to work and have fun and things like that.

That's probably the main thing and just seeing that side of it as well is so crucial. I was so lucky to intern there. I was interning there in lockdown where everyone else was at home and I had a work permit to go on a Cricket Victoria and hang out with my mates and Mottie and it was a crazy experience. There were times when, I think it was before the 2020 World Cup, where Aaron Finch was the Australian captain and he was coming back here like a knee injury. And Mottie and the Cricket Australia High Performance

manager and a cricket Australia fizzer were there, they were having meetings based on rehab and that, and Mottie was like, do you want to join in with the meeting? I'm like, yes. So we were sitting there with Mottie, mapping out Finch's rehab and then we'd go out and do fielding drills and I'm throwing balls to Finch. That's outrageous. And we had the GPS out and when he's hit this many details or whatever, we'll stop it there. So I'm just pinging balls to Finch and we're throwing the ball, which is insane. Looking back, I'm like, that is ridiculous.

What an experience. Yeah, it was ridiculous. And the Australian coach was there, it was crazy. So going back to your question about just being so open with me and creating that environment and the technical skills and that as well. He won a stool gift as a sprinter, so that running mechanic stuff, how we balance the load throughout a week and all that sort of technical stuff. I love the way how he integrates blokes back in the program when they come back from international staff or when they go out to big bash and how he manages that sort of stuff.

Which sort of actually is like online coaching, how he manages people when they're away. Yeah, pretty cool. Such a good operator, absolute jet. Yeah, I love what you touched on about how he creates the environment where people want to turn up, which is something we're so big about here. It's all well and good to say that you've got to do this, this and this, you know, X amount of sessions for a week and hydrate and whatever. But if people don't want to come to the gym and put in the work, then that's probably the biggest barrier there is to things getting done.

And then it's also one thing to create the environment where people want to show up and have fun, but then also have the respect for you to actually listen to what you have to say and then do the work. So that's something that I reckon he's encapsulated really, really well and something that a lot of coaches should strive to do. 100%, like you can write like the best, you have the best program in on Team Voodoo. Nobody actually wants to, no one enjoys your company. Yeah, no one wants to be around you and no one likes the environment you created and no one wants to come.

Exactly, if people walk on eggshells, they hate it, they don't really want to come in to work. They don't lah, they're like, who's this plate changer, what to do? You might be the smartest bloke, you might understand how an action potential happens in the muscle and blah, blah, blah. Who can actually create the environment where people want to get better, so the people that come in with energy, bring intent, bring energy, bring people along with them who don't want to actually be there that day. And that's how you actually create results. A lot of people

are going to write very, very similar programs and everyone understands physiology at a certain level and things like that, but can you actually bring people together, bring them on a journey? Yep, correct. That's what the best coaches do, that's what makes it a coach and not like an exercise scientist I reckon. Yeah, and then there's the other side of the coin, it's finding the middle ground and not trying to be their best mate too much, which is a mistake I've made at a footy club in the past. Trying to be too good a mate to

them and saying, oh yeah, I fucking did this, this and this on the weekend and then you have a great relationship with them and it's a fun place, but then when it's time to get to work and be serious and you need to pull someone in line, it's like fuck off mate. That's what I find. Being obviously younger, working in footy or working with people your own age and things like that, I would probably be a mate to you. I grew up, we both would have been the same social friend group, I thought it was

the old school, we would be friends, but it's kind of like how do I use that as my advantage, that I'm same age, similar interests and that, how can you make that your advantage and get on their side and things like that, but not get too much on their side where you, as you said, are too good a mate to them. Then they don't listen to you and they take it to piss off and things like that. So find that balance and at the start, it's very, very, very, very difficult to try and don't almost

like, yeah, you want to have a really good, strong athlete-coach relationship, but I'm probably on the side, I'll probably do ear on the friend side, right or wrong, that's just my personality. And I suppose like with, you know, I suppose Todd that was your friend prior, I guess that doesn't really matter too much and there would be probably more respect in that regard. But yeah, we sometimes make the mistake of sometimes trying to be best mates with clients and that can go against us when it's time to, you know, you need to give them a serve or whatnot.

I'm just not good at giving serves to friends. Yeah, 100%. I think it's a lot easier in the private sort of environment, because people are paying you to coach, so the expectations there, but I can find it in like working at Box Hill and things like that. That's where I think that's where it's probably the biggest thing for me to like, no, I'm here to work, as I say, like, and it's a part of building environment for your club as well that you get amongst the boys and you get around that as well. So it's

like find balance of like, I want to get around them now, but then it's like, how can I pull out and let them be the players sort of thing. Yeah. And trying to still be like the performance SNC sort of person, but it's also as I said, it's a strength to be close with people, because then you can like, I know for me personally, having SNC, SNCs that I worked with when I was going through juniors now, like the ones that were, I would say the better blokes, I'd do things for them, because I enjoy their company.

Right. If someone was like coming in, real like, sciencey, nerdy, couldn't really talk to you, I'd be like, who's this bloke? Yeah. I mean, and you just think back to school, don't you? Like the teachers you liked most were the ones that showed an interest in you. And you could actually have a bit of a talk and banter with them and the ones that you dreaded going to their class. They were just pricks and they just laid down the law, very authoritarian. And it was just boring. A hundred percent. They got their teachers like Pulse. Pulse is Virtus Absolute Goat from the old podcast.

I can see some one, two and three on all those. Jared Pulse, what a great man. Absolutely a legend. Murook King, absolute legend. We've got Tommy Alden as well. He used to come here. Do you know who's here? Yeah, nah, he was before my time. Do you know Walk Miller? Nah, he was all before my time. Yeah, he played footy at Moreington. He played cribby last year, I think. Yeah, three teachers from my school who were all part of the Virtus family back in the day. I reckon Lock would know. Lock would know Walk. He played footy against him a lot.

Yeah, so I can look at those three teachers, just like part of the boys sort of thing, but also especially Walk when he gave you a bit of a stern to talk and he's always listening. He's a detective now, actually. And I ran into him on the street the other day. So bizarre, but yeah. Ran into him on the street? You weren't getting in trouble, were you? That's what I said to him. I'm like, hopefully you aren't trying to fight me, mate. He's like, nah, I wouldn't be chasing you down Coxie. Did Jared Pulse ever give you a good serve?

I don't reckon Pulse gave me a serve. I reckon Pulse is pretty good to me. I was ducks in Pulse's class, actually. Ducks? Yeah, so pretty proud to say that. So you were kissing Pulse's ass? Oh, 100%. How can you not? I love Pulse so much. I'll love to have a beer with him. I'll share him out now. Pulse, come have a beer with me. I'll clip this one up. We've talked about Darce Murph, we've talked about Todd Murphy, we'll quickly talk about Jared Pulse. What are some traits that made him a really, really good teacher?

He just telecared and he just tele-loved it as well. He just loved his job and just loved helping us. And I think he had that really good balance of you respect him, obviously, but also you can have a joke with him, you can chat to him about stuff. I like people that are more down on your level and you can communicate with sort of that, rather than teachers that get above you and talk to you down there. Real authoritarian, yeah. Yeah, I don't get around that sort of stuff. So someone you can chat to normally, yeah, bloke, you do this, blah, blah, blah, awesome, such a good man.

Just being on your level, just got along with him so well, I reckon. Awesome bloke, awesome bloke. Just makes it easier to learn off as well. Oh, 100%. And when you can tell people, yeah, good people, you want to listen to them. Yeah, you resonate with them more. Yeah, correct. You have more fun, you're engaged. Yeah, you're engaged in the content, so good. He was absolutely great, man. Take us back to Junior Cox coming up and playing cricket. Was representing Australia something that you dreamt of doing as a youngster growing up? Obviously, always, back in the day, if someone gave me Australian hat, I would have worn it.

But yeah, no, I could… Is that something that motivated you? I wouldn't say it was ever realistic, ever. And I was pretty aware of that. Like, you know, if you're going to play for Australia, maybe that's probably like a handbrake as well. But yeah, I wanted to play the highest level I possibly could. Obviously, I wanted to play for Australia, but was I ever, like, too happy to go play for Australia? No, no. What was the highest level you got to? I played in the Vic Underage teams, which is awesome. That's where I played with them.

I mean, shoot, that's pretty high level. State level cricket. Good cricket. Good cricket. Yeah, it was really good, actually. I got to play with Toddy and, yeah, like, half the Victorians. Yeah, I was going to say, are there any international players playing now that you would have played with at that level? Yeah, well, obviously, Toddy's one there. I played against… I could tend to be a singer from New South Wales. He's played for… just stayed with Australia the other day. Career Victoria went through a bit of a transition period with my age group. So I was lucky enough, I was around the system, like, on a major and top age.

So I had people who were a couple of years above me, a couple of years below me, so I know. So it was pretty… a lot of guys I played with and against have gone and got state contracts. There was a lot of players for Victoria. Will Southern's the Victorian captain now. Mitch Perry's played Australia A. Yeah, a lot of the boys are sort of playing through Victoria. I think we had, like, when I was, like, interning there, it was really weird. Because it was, like, 15 or 16 boys I played with, like, a year or two years before, were sort of on contract.

So I was just, like, hanging out with the boys, all in S&C, like, in lockdown. Just whining about the clock. Just living the dream. The boys… I think when I first walked in, the boys were asking if I was… someone asked if I was getting treatment from the physio. I'm like, nah, I'm not, mate. So, yeah. No one… like, we had a couple of… yeah, it's a couple of players sort of starting to come through now. Yeah, Toddy's the main one. He's probably playing for Australia. And doing really, really well. Any good Todd Murphy stories? Oh… And you'd have plenty, but… None that are suitable for the camera, unfortunately.

Yeah, I would have thought… I'm trying to think of some that are suitable for… off camera. I'll give you a couple of good ones, but… You keep thinking about that, and whilst we chat about your transition to working in the health and fitness industry, when did that start? And when did your passion for that really start to ignite? Yeah, so I'd gone through that junior cricket tour academy sort of thing. We had SNCs there, and I was always like, that would be a pretty cool job to have one day. Yeah, because I took a bit of work experience with the concrete art.

That can cool you up. Oh, wow. Yeah, all the boys are tradies, and I'm just like, from the start, like, jeez, I just don't enjoy it. Well, that's it. And I'm Australia's worst handyman as well, so I'd probably end in tears if I was on the tools. Oh, 100%. The boys, like, I'd cop the worst shit, especially at the start. Like, going to uni and that. Like, a lot of my mates didn't even finish VCE. They just trained in trades and that, so going to uni is a pretty fine thing. But I was sort of like, yeah, this SNC thing would be a pretty cool job to have, sort of thing.

But once again, sort of finished, like, Year 12. Didn't really know what I wanted to do at all. But, sort of Deakin had, like, a degree, did exercise science and a sports management double degree. I'm like, I had two degrees, sport degrees. Same thing. Sounds good. So, going to that. And yeah, first year or so there, I wasn't really doing too much at all. I was just cruising through, weren't I? Yeah, standard. Couple of cafes she was in. Yeah, not doing much, really, with my life. And then, I sort of got my first intern, like, a placement at Rise, where I met, Jazz was sort of, like, the...

Rise. Rise Health in Roville, which Jazz is at. Yep. So, that's where I met Jazz there. That was really good. So, that was, like, a lot of coaching reps get stuck into that. What sort of demographic are you working with at Rise? I was, like, at Roville High School. Oh, High School. That was at High School. Yep. So, that was, like, Rise Health Group. They were, like, the business that went in the Roville Sports Academy. Gotcha. Yep. A lot of kids pumped through there. Like, it was actually a really good experience. A lot of coaching reps, you just coach, coach, coach.

Do what you want with them. Elite. So, you expose that really, really early. And then, from there, that's when I went into, like, in the internship with Crew Victoria. So, I did that into there. Really, like, obviously loved that. Just, like, so good. But, it's still, like, a really, like, comfortable experience. Even though I was going, like, a pro scene, as I said before, like, 15, 16 of, like, blokes that, like, I saw a new one played with. Yeah. I knew some of, like, the girls' players as well. It wasn't necessarily a new environment. No, exactly.

Same building. The same gym that I was in as, like, myself. Like, it was pretty cool. And, like, the SNC there was, like, my SNC... On the 19s, SNC was the same one for mine on the 19s as well. So, I saw a new... Some people in there as well. I knew, like, the women's head coach was my coach. So, I was just very, like, I was, like, sort of... I knew a lot of people there. So, I was very comfortable, which is a cool place to start. But then, I went into, then, the VIS. I got an internship there.

So, I did that for a year. I was just rowing. That was a whole new experience. I wanted to do something a little bit different. I sort of mistook footy cricket, blokey, sort of stuff, my whole, sort of, lifestyle. That was, like, a planned thing to do something a little bit different, a little bit out there. So, I did that for a year of rowing. Stayed a little bit at home with athletics, and that went a couple of other things. But, yeah, that was... That was... Yeah, that was good. Definitely became a better coach from that.

Yeah. Did you go into the industry always wanting to work with athletes and go into, sort of, the strength and conditioning field? Or have you done work with, sort of, general population that are just wanting to enhance their general health and wellbeing? Maybe a bit of body composition type stuff? Or has it always just been very athlete development focused? Very much athlete development focused. After my preparatory internship, I got a job at BodyFit, actually, my first fitness sort of job. Is that BFT, BodyFit? Yeah. Yeah. So, I got a job there, worked there, one in Sander.

So, back home, back near Cranbrook. Yeah. So, I started working there, but always, like, I wanted to work with athletes, wanted to do athlete sort of stuff there. Yeah, for sure. That's sort of what I enjoy and what I love. I still do... I work at a gym in Kew workshop gym, which is more gen pop stuff. I do a couple of mornings there a week as well. Yeah, nice. Which is still... I still enjoy it. At the end of the day, like, it's actually... Like, everyone's people and, like, it's just good training. Yeah, that's right.

Like, the differences are actually very, very slim in their programming and what it looks like, you know. And these things that we think are athletic qualities, like, they need to be fast and to jump and to have robust tendons and to be powerful. Like, they're all qualities that not just athletes should be able to elicit, but other humans as well. And then you just turn the dials, like, you know, a fast bowler in cricket, you might need some stuff for his adductors and his sides. But again, a normal human being needs strong sides and adductors as well, but we just turn down the dials according to their activity that they participate in.

100%. Couldn't agree more. Like, people are people and, like, it's just one of the tasks that they want to do really, really well. You just, as you sort of say, I love that dial, that dimmer switch or that dial sort of analogy. Like, it's just, like, turn a bit of this up, turn a bit of that down. Just bring a little bit of this. 100% do that, bang, and then there's a program in you. So it's just, like, and it's the way you communicate it and coach it, things like that, where you get all the money from it.

So, yeah, I still enjoy, like, jumping off people. It's more like the people who you're with, but isn't it, like? I just naturally, through my growing up and best social circles and that, I get along really well with people who play footy in cricket. Well, that's it, yeah. It's what you're best at. 100%, so I enjoy communicating with people who play footy in cricket. So I put myself in situations where I can coach people who I enjoy being around. Yeah, it's a lifestyle design thing. If you want to train and hang out with a certain demographic, then, yeah, put yourself in a situation where you get to do that and which you've done very, very well.

What did you learn when you were outside of your comfort zone in the rowing sector? Oh, geez, I didn't know much about rowing going to a gee whiz. Yeah, well, that, because I sort of put myself in those shoes and, like, fuck, how would I go in that? You know, knowing that there's a lot of difference, and a lot of difference, but still, it'd be a different environment. Oh, yeah, different, like how, just understanding the sport, you've got sleeping and sculling and what the difference is there. Yeah, that's over my head. And then trying to

find out, like, who sleeps, who sculls and trying to memorise that and, you know, there's people coming in and you're trying to figure out, they're trying to build relationships with people that, it's not, like, it's not the same environment as, like, a footy club or a cricket club. It's a different environment, the institute system, so trying to build relationships with the athletes but then also trying to, you know, prove yourself as a bit of, like, good courage and things like that and working your way through that. It's just, yeah, understanding the sport is probably the main thing at the start.

Like, just making sure you don't look like an idiot when you're talking to them, actually understand what you're talking about and, like, how you understand their sport, especially when, like, we had, we had, like, a Olympic gold medalist train with us, which is pretty sick. Oh, wow. So we had the women's, three of the women's four who won it in the year before, so that was rare maybe. Yeah, I think it was more rare. Oh, I'll nod and say yes, but in reality I don't know. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, so we, like, we got Olympic gold medalist train with us and I was like, well, this is insane, this is ridiculous.

But then, like, trying to actually, like, how can I actually help them when I first come in without really knowing the sport? So you got to actually know the sport. Like, it all comes down, it just comes down to being a good person in the day so that you care, like, actually engage with them in that and just be a good person that way. But, yeah, understand, like, what you actually need, how you can actually help them and how can you service the athletes is probably the big thing. And I suppose we talk about earning respect.

Like, if you roll in there and not knowing a thing about their sport, well, there goes all your credibility and respect. Oh, 100%, especially if they're, like, big dogs and they're floating in for, like, a couple of weeks and going back up to Sydney where they train, it's just like, okay, how can I not, how can I just make myself look, you know, how can I just not make myself look like a fool and, like, just understand where I'm living because I've had zero experience. I didn't know where I was even that big. I'm like, what is going on here?

And, like, people actually do this, like, full time. And then understanding, like, their training schedule is rowing. They are the hardest workers in the whole world. Yeah, wow. Like, as weak in a row it would be. So, Monday, on the water at six, train for, like, two hours, like, 25K session. Like, you're on the erg, like, downstairs. Like, imagine doing 25Ks on that thing. Yeah, that's some serious mileage. It's ridiculous doing that. And then you, you know, have breakfast, go for, like, a, you know, two or three hour bike ride, nice, casual, easy day. Then come into the gym for a couple of hours with us.

So, after, when you see them in the gym, they've retrained for five hours, which is insane. So, try and navigate loads and things like that. And the next day they'll get another 25K session. Then Monday, Wednesday, Friday, all the same thing. They'll probably do, like, triple session or a double session. Oh, insane. And ridiculous amount of, like, volume. They do, like, a little exercise aerobically for, like, 25 hours a week. And then, like, I knew they were hardworking, but, like, I didn't know that they were putting up those sorts of numbers. Insane. It was outrageous to me.

You said there were, like, sweepers and scullers. Are these, I guess, different roles that you almost have to prepare for differently? Like, similar to, like, a fast bowler and a batsman? Like, does preparation look different for those? Firstly, what are they? And does preparation look different for those roles? Yeah, so, like, when you scull you, like, you were saying, like, they're both yours. So, I think, have you seen that one before? Yeah. And then sweeping is when they have, like, one wall and they just go to one side. Okay. So, when you sweep, they just rotate to one side the whole time.

Yeah. And so, that's, you know, obviously something you need to consider, because they're obviously just, like, they're drastically rotated to one side the whole time. So, trying to open up a bit of the other side. Yep. Would be nice. I'm sure they feel a lot better from that. And then, apart from that, but, obviously, you just want to get them, like, generally just really strong, powerful, robust in their shoulders. Yeah. Their backs play up a fair bit. Yeah, as I said, what are some of the common injury sites for a rower? So, get this. Like, a rib stress fracture.

Never would have, I didn't know that existed. No, I didn't. Like, ribs get stress fractures? What are you talking about? Like, insane. So, they get rib stresses, which is the main one there, and that's, like, a load thing as well, and then, like, obviously everything sort of goes, like, how their scaps move and things like that. What part of the rib? Like, back in behind, in behind up here. Okay. Yeah. So, just point, for those who aren't watching, like, cocky's, like, pointing sort of behind your shoulder there? Yeah, like, behind, like, in behind, like, your shoulder blade.

So, around that sort of area. Okay. Like, on the back side of the ribs, usually. Yeah. Which is, yeah, quite fascinating, actually. Management of rowing-related injuries? Like, load, obviously, as I mentioned, they do a lot of load. Yeah. So, just gradually building them back into that. Like, they get, like, sore backs now, as you can imagine. Like, if you've ever spent five minutes on a nerve, your back gets pretty sore. Yeah. So, just back stuff, just mobility work. Just, you know, maybe you might need, like, every now and then, like, you need to pivot your session a fair bit.

So, if, like, they come in, you've got, like, back squats in your session, your back's pretty cool. Just chuck on a belt squat. Yeah. Stuff like that. Just, like, just sort of agile. Just, like, lateralise your session when need be and just still get the loading that you want, but just find a different alternative strategy and don't always be married to your program that you've written on that day. Yeah. It sounds like, you know, like, oh, athletes we work with, we've got to auto-regulate depending on how they've been at work or other things they've done in injuries.

It sounds like you have to auto-regulate a fair bit with the amount of load that a rower's doing. Like, is it literally just daily that you're constantly, you're having to change something in a rower's program? Yeah. Like, a little bit, yeah, 100%. Like, you might not, like, update on team a little bit. It's just that conversation piece you have with the athlete. Yeah. You go, like, yeah, maybe I'll pull back a little bit. Go a little bit lighter there, like, just tick the box and get through today. 'Cause they have their blocks, like, they have, like, four-week training blocks or things.

They've got, like, a light, heavy, heavy, heavy delo sort of thing. So, you know, on their big weeks, they're getting pretty cool, especially coming into Wednesday, 'cause they have Thursday morning, like, a sleep-in on Thursday morning, the rowers. So, come in the Wednesday session, they're absolutely, like, they're like the zombies, and then come back for Friday, and that's it. They feel a little bit fresher. So, just, like, how the loads throughout the week. See, on Monday, they're going to write. Usually, on a delo week is where they'll actually feel pretty, like, they actually will be sluggish, and then that week after the delo week, they'll feel a little bit sharper, ready to go again.

But, it's one of those things, the culture is pretty much just, like, just, like, go, go, go sort of thing, and, like, sort of push. So, the whole rowing culture is very, like, yeah, train hard, work hard, things like that. So, they're really, like, they're pretty tough. They're pretty tough, like, a lot. And they just soldier on. And a lot of people in the industry, myself included, have had a lot to say about proactive deloads, but this could be one of those situations where, like, very much, you know, a team would get a lot of benefit out of scheduling that in.

Yeah, 100%. I think, like, with that proactive delo, I'm with you. With, like, gen pop stuff, and, like, you know, some people can get, say, like, I don't know, they miss a session every now and then just because of life. That's fair enough. But I think when you can control every single thing, like, you obviously, you know, you probably can proactively deload a little bit when you're, like, in a professional setting and things like that. But gen pop, like, everyday life, just keep soldiering on. And then if nothing pops up and you do any deload, then cool.

But typically someone's going to pop up. Reactively deload, yeah. 100%, someone's going to pop up. Like, they're going to miss a session every now and then. Someone's going to have a birthday dinner on. Someone's going to, you know, get a little bit sick. Get on the beers. Someone can't be bothered, get on the beers, 100%. Let's talk about online before we quickly wrap this up. It's a space that you're delving into. What's that look like, and is that something that the future of high performance cricket? Is that something, like, you want to be, like, a purely online-based business?

Or is there always going to be an element of face-to-face delivery to your business? There will always be an element of face-to-face. Like, face-to-face is still the king and still the best. But online gives you the ability to help people from any part of the world, which is great. So, yeah, obviously I still do a lot of in-person stuff, which is great for the guys based in Melbourne. But online stuff allows us to scale and help people from Queensland or help people from South Australia and things like that. You're working with people all over Australia. Yeah, some guys from a couple of Queensland, a couple in South Australia, a couple in Tassie.

So, yeah, that's something I want to reach out to more, hopefully get a couple in the UK as a goal, get in the UK sort of market that way. So, yeah, it still works really well. Like, you still get, like, how I see it, they're still getting, like, a program that's individualised to them. Probably going to be better than what they're doing now by themselves as a coach. I 100% agree on that. And they still get, you know, like, they still can send videos through. You can still see how they're moving. You can talk to them on the phone or a video call every week or every couple of weeks and check in, see how things are going.

I'm probably more, like, an over communicator over text. I try to text them a fair bit. I'm very, like I was going on, I don't want them to leave me. So, I'm like, yeah, always make sure everything's going well. Well, actually, like, if someone's paying for an online service and they don't hear from you, well, then what's the point of it? 100%, 100%. I also try to provide as much, like, support and as I possibly can when I'm from online. And some people really like just doing their own thing as well. Like, just training when they want to.

Like, it might not fit into their schedule to come and see you in person. Like, I want to go to this gym, I enjoy that. I train with a friend. So, online coaching gives people the flexibility to do what they want but also then have the confidence to know that they have the best programming and the best support behind them to, you know, perform their goals, reach their dreams and all that sort of stuff. Yeah. So, I know I might be getting you to repeat yourself here because you did just faintly brush over it. But someone, let's just say, from the UK reaches out to you like, hey, Jason, love what you're doing.

Like, I'd love to work with you online. What value do they get from working with high performance cricket online? And what makes that better than just them just taking themselves through their own gym program or perhaps doing the one that their local cricket club coach has just sort of handed to them on an A4 piece of paper? Yeah, well, with cricket, mate, like, a lot of it is just like belief shifting. Like, cricketers need to be athletic and strong and powerful, which is like something that we're trying to sort of put out there. So, number

one thing, usually people aren't really going to the gym or they're probably doing like a bodybuilding gym program or something that's very, like, not as beneficial as what training to be more athletic is. So, if you want to be a more athletic and dynamic and explosive cricketer, then, like, I'll put you on an individualized program for you so you know you're getting exactly what you need out of it. You can go into the gym, have the confidence that, yep, I've worked. Anything that you need to do is show up, put the work in and, like, you're moving in the right direction.

You're shifting needle towards your goals. So, that's what they get from that. Like, the program, SNC wise, I can put in, like, warm-ups or any, like, movement prep work or recovery mobility sort of stuff in there too. So, essentially, whatever we decide is best for you, I mean, Chuck, whatever you want. Whatever you need in your program, strength, power, mobility, recovery stuff, whatever you want. And then that, like, accountability and support, they're getting that through their check-ins with you. Like, how frequent are they? Yeah, 100%. So, like, I check in over text probably two, three times per week to see how things are going.

I, like, didn't know people, so I was, like, just to ask how the week's going, just chatting, just chatting shit. I mean, that's the relationship-building side of it, isn't it? 100%. I love it. I love people. So, and then from there, like, yeah, either, like, some people, we do check-ins once a month or we check-ins once a week over the phone. Like, it's more of a structured thing where we chat things through and things like that. So, that's where you get that support and that more, like, nutrition education, like, where Dalvin's, like, the mental sort of skill side of cricket as well.

That sort of more cricket awareness, cricket, more the cricket coaching side can come in too, which I think people really value. Especially at this time in season as well, talk through your performance, talk through how, yeah, how you're thinking in this situation when, like, let's say you're a bowler. How, when the batsmen was going at you hard, what was your thought process, were you controlling the things that you can control, were you worried about what they were doing? And then sort of help them provide mental frameworks around how they can sort of deal with that situation better and, like, mentally be a little bit stronger and, like, how you can regulate your emotions.

So, at the end of the day, you're going to probably, you're going to think something, you're going to have, feel something on the cricket field. You may as well make those feelings or, like, you may as well be thinking about something that's going to benefit your performance rather than things that are going to take it away. So, thinking about, oh, this batsman's too good for me, how can I control, focus on the things that I can control rather than worry about all the external stuff, which is going to happen anyway, whether I think it or not.

So, I may as well focus the limited energy I have on the things that I can take control of. That's really cool and something I was going to ask you, like, is that actually a service you offer as well, like, the actual cricket skill coaching side of it, like, outside of the physical prep and athlete development? Like, do you delve into, like, a little bit of cricket technique, skill coaching as well? Like, I'll dabble in it a little bit. I'd say I can, like, from, like, a bowling technique or a bank technique, obviously I know, like, I know enough.

Yeah. I will outsource that and I'm actually, myself and the Rocket Factory, they're for the fast bowling coach. The Rocket Factory. The Rocket Factory. Anru is going viral with the Rocket Factory. So, me and the Rocket Factory are actually, he does a bit of work with my guys too, so I'm going to shout at the Rocket Factory, absolutely go over there. Yeah, pump him up. And we've got some stuff coming soon as well. We've got some stuff in the works, really, some programs. A bit of a collaboration. Very much a collaboration. Good. So, we've got some stuff coming up there, so some few in-season and off-season sort of programs coming in too.

He does some work with my bowlers as well, so he does some, like, some technique, when you sign up for me, he gets, he can give you, like, a technique analysis if you're a fast bowler, which is great. And then what I'm, what we're looking to do is integrate sort of those, like, how I do the check-in sessions as well. He can get involved with them too and talk about more technique and that game awareness, actual, like, skill side of it as well. So, trying to get, we're just getting that off the ground at the

moment, but that's something exciting coming for, like, the fast bowlers out there to try and get an actual more, like, a better and, just, upgrade the service as well. So, getting a gun fast bowling coach in to help us lift it up as well. That's such a, like, like, it's such an obvious collaboration to make, like, something I wouldn't have thought of, but it's such an obvious collaboration. Like, you open a high-performance facility for cricketers and you just collaborate with a actual skill coach. And, can I say, what an incredible name the Rocket Factory is, by the way.

It's the best name on the planet and he's such a good man, Solomon. So, yeah, we, yeah, the stuff he's done, he really just, we had our first sort of meeting coffee the other day, but, yeah, we're looking to collab and do a couple, like, a couple of, like, a partnership and getting to do some programs and stuff together as well for all the fast bowlers out there. And getting him involved with my clients and him and me getting involved with some of his clients as well. Like, at the end of the day, it's just going to make people bowl faster, bowl, be better cricketers.

Like, the more, like, it just, essentially what we're trying to do is just create, like, give people the experience of what it would be like in a professional environment and try and replicate that for people who aren't on a state contract for now and try and push them up into that system. Which is great. I've also got a partnership with the, their Crew Victoria physios as well, so my guys can go into Crew Victoria and see their physios in there as well, which is cool. So, we're trying to create a bit of, like, an all-around hub of, like, this cricket sort of performance and get around to all that.

Let's see. It sounds like there's some huge things coming for high performance cricket and it sounds like anyone that signs up for that service is going to get immense value. And I can't wait to see where it all leads over the next few years, mate. Coxy, big things on the horizon for yourself, mate. We love, mate. We love cricket and it's such a good little sport and everyone gets around it, so we have good fun most importantly, which is the main thing. Just before I do, cut it off, I was just overseas at the World Test Champs and the Ashes.

Have you ever been overseas to watch an international cricket game? No, I've really ever been to Bali, actually. Oh, mate. This is my only overseas experience, so I need to get myself over to Europe like you were. I'm thinking 2025, I'm ironing it off. But no, I haven't actually, but I wouldn't mind getting over there. I've asked that question because I thought you had, but now people will just be thinking that's an excuse for me to just mention that I went to Europe again. I did in fact, but we will leave it there before I cut you off and we go downstairs and train.

I'll give you the floor for a few minutes just to plug yourself. Where can people find you? Socials, everything. Plug yourself, mate. Instagram is probably the best one. Highperformance.cricket is the best one there or jasoncox_performancecoach on Instagram is probably the main one to find me. I've got a website, highperformancecricket.net, crickett.com, flat, that's right. That happens. But yeah, I've just talked about myself for an hour, so I don't need to worry about plugging myself anymore. I'll give you a really good plug in the episode description on Spotify and YouTube. I'll make sure I give you a really good pump up, mate.

Beautiful. First guest for season five or six or whatever it is. It's a big full circle thing for me, mate. What I was talking about before, it was in Virtus in year 10, I think it was, or year 11. So it was nice to be back in the new podcast, you know, taking over the reins from Pulse. Yeah, very cool, because I don't think we mentioned this, I've known Coxie for a bit over a year now. We were on the same sort of business mentorship group and I was just going through some old photos a few months back.

And like, there was Jason Cox, just on the gym floor wearing an old Virtus t-shirt, which is the one he's actually wearing now underneath his highperformance cricket vest. He's still got the retro logo. For like eight years old or anything like this. Actually, maybe you even sent the photo to me. I was like, what the fuck's going on here? I knew Virtus before, you knew Virtus. Yeah, literally. A former student of Jared Pulsar. Shout out. Full circle, mate. Big shout out. Good to have you here, mate. No, absolute pleasure, mate. We're going to go downstairs and train.

What are we training? Uppers. Chests. Of course. I did uppers, yeah. I mean, every day is uppers day for me. Well, it's just how it should be for everybody. Exactly right. Beautiful. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for coming on, Cox. Legend, mate. I absolutely appreciate it. Thank you.