Physically, is James as good now as he has been since you arrived in 1999?
Hirdy was probably at his all time peak in 2000 / 2001. That is not to say that he is far off that point now but age catches up with all of us, even boy wonder. He has worked exceptionally hard to get to this point in his career. When I first arrived at Essendon at the end of 1998, I had a pretty good idea of the workloads that an elite athlete could handle. Hirdy re-wrote those standards for me. He says that I have never broken him but he has been green around the gills on more than one occasion!
What will he have to work hardest at from now on if he wants to play 250 games?
Recovery and maintenance. Recovery will come in the form of management after every session. This may be in the form of massage, hot / colds, stretching, mobility and so on. One thing that Hirdy will need to do is listen to his body when it says stop and rest. He has got better at that over the past couple of years. He has an elite level V02 (amount of oxygen he utilises when he exercises) and we will have to work to keep that at a high level.
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