Strongest Player in the AFL - Pound for Pound

[gavaniacono]

Strength and Power are different things

Str + Spd = Pwr.
~ > median weight lifters = str
# < 15 % bell curve athletes = pwr
therefore, play a sport to be healthy.

 

[sonnywalters]

Apart from a couple of outliers most are low (like, only squatting as much as they bench low).
I know a couple of guys that have worked (or still work) at AFL clubs in S&C roles and they reckon most players are a bit mentally soft or disinterested when it comes to squats.

Also; for whoever mentioned Steph Curry. He has a trap bar deadlift of 180-185kg the same as Hugh Jackman, 40kg less than Scott Pendlebury, 70kg less than me and 100kg less than what Sav Rocca was doing as a teenager

Sav Rocca is under rated

 

[John Who]

Thread is focusing too much on stationary object lifts, which isn't a good translation for a player on the footy field. A simple thought would be if a club is to recruit the world's strongest weight lifter, that recruit would be absolutely pointless because he won't be able to run, chase or tackle!

Other key ingredients needed to know who the "strongest player" is:
- core strength
- speed
- pain tolerance

 

[Captain_Bender]

Chris Judd claimed he carried the entire west coast team - Impressive

Carried Carlton even more so more impressive

 

[Aeglos]

Thread is focusing too much on stationary object lifts ...

Given the OP was quite obviously referring to physical strength aka maximal force someone can exert it makes sense to refer to stationary object lifts as they're the most commonly used measure to test maximal strength along with maximum joint torque

which isn't a good translation for a player on the footy field.

Disagree, increased strength as a result of weight training has a number of benefits that will quite easily transfer to a football field
- increased tackling ability [1]
- increased sprint speed and agility [2]
- reduced incidence of hamstring injury [3]
- increased vertical jump [4]
- improved change of direction [5]

​

Other key ingredients needed to know who the "strongest player" is:
- core strength
- speed
- pain tolerance

"core" strength would make up one determinant of physical strength, however the other 2 measures you mention do not

References:
[1] Speranza, M., Gabbett, T., Johnston, R., & Sheppard, J. (2015). Muscular Strength and Power Correlates of Tackling Ability in Semiprofessional Rugby League Players. Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 29(8), 2071-2078. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000000897
[2] Deane, R., Chow, J., Tillman, M., & Fournier, K. (2005). Effects of Hip Flexor Training on Sprint, Shuttle Run, and Vertical Jump Performance. The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 19(3), 615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/14974.1
[3] Deane, R., Chow, J., Tillman, M., & Fournier, K. (2005). Effects of Hip Flexor Training on Sprint, Shuttle Run, and Vertical Jump Performance. The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 19(3), 615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/14974.1
[4] Rønnestad, B., Kojedal, Ø., Losnegard, T., Kvamme, B., & Raastad, T. (2011). Effect of heavy strength training on muscle thickness, strength, jump performance, and endurance performance in well-trained Nordic Combined athletes. European Journal Of Applied Physiology, 112(6), 2341-2352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2204-9
[5] Keiner, M., Sander, A., Wirth, K., & Schmidtbleicher, D. (2014). Long-Term Strength Training Effects on Change-of-Direction Sprint Performance. Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 28(1), 223-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e318295644b

 

[John Who]

Given the OP was quite obviously referring to physical strength aka maximal force someone can exert it makes sense to refer to stationary object lifts as they're the most commonly used measure to test maximal strength along with maximum joint torque

Disagree, increased strength as a result of weight training has a number of benefits that will quite easily transfer to a football field
- increased tackling ability [1]
- increased sprint speed and agility [2]
- reduced incidence of hamstring injury [3]
- increased vertical jump [4]
- improved change of direction [5]

​

"core" strength would make up one determinant of physical strength, however the other 2 measures you mention do not

References:
[1] Speranza, M., Gabbett, T., Johnston, R., & Sheppard, J. (2015). Muscular Strength and Power Correlates of Tackling Ability in Semiprofessional Rugby League Players. Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 29(8), 2071-2078. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000000897
[2] Deane, R., Chow, J., Tillman, M., & Fournier, K. (2005). Effects of Hip Flexor Training on Sprint, Shuttle Run, and Vertical Jump Performance. The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 19(3), 615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/14974.1
[3] Deane, R., Chow, J., Tillman, M., & Fournier, K. (2005). Effects of Hip Flexor Training on Sprint, Shuttle Run, and Vertical Jump Performance. The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 19(3), 615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/14974.1
[4] Rønnestad, B., Kojedal, Ø., Losnegard, T., Kvamme, B., & Raastad, T. (2011). Effect of heavy strength training on muscle thickness, strength, jump performance, and endurance performance in well-trained Nordic Combined athletes. European Journal Of Applied Physiology, 112(6), 2341-2352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2204-9
[5] Keiner, M., Sander, A., Wirth, K., & Schmidtbleicher, D. (2014). Long-Term Strength Training Effects on Change-of-Direction Sprint Performance. Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 28(1), 223-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e318295644b

Holy smokes! I've made a 3 minute response, and you've come up with a thesis for a counter-argument!
Like I mentioned previously, having the strongest stationary strength does not mean much unless you relate this with the speed, and timing of applying tackles/hip-and-shoulders etc.
I would rather a 200kg man who can lift 1000kg travelling at a snail's pace, hip-and-shoulder me, rather than Charlie Cameron travelling at full pace, barrage into me. Which would you rather?

The point about pain tolerance, is that the player who can tolerate pain better can usually cope with running and breathing better, and skills/strength don't drop as much in the last half.

 

[Aeglos]

Holy smokes! I've made a 3 minute response, and you've come up with a thesis for a counter-argument!
Like I mentioned previously, having the strongest stationary strength does not mean much unless you relate this with the speed, and timing of applying tackles/hip-and-shoulders etc.
I would rather a 200kg man who can lift 1000kg travelling at a snail's pace, hip-and-shoulder me, rather than Charlie Cameron travelling at full pace, barrage into me. Which would you rather?

The point about pain tolerance, is that the player who can tolerate pain better can usually cope with running and breathing better, and skills/strength don't drop as much in the last half.

Yes but the thread is about the strongest . . . Not “most physically equipped to play AFL” or “who would you least like to be hip and shouldered by”.
I don’t think anyone in the thread has implied that strength is the strongest indicator for success at AFL either (even me with my biases would say it’s at best the 4th or 5th most important athletic quality for an AFL footballer).

 

[John Who]

Yes but the thread is about the strongest . . . Not “most physically equipped to play AFL” or “who would you least like to be hip and shouldered by”.
I don’t think anyone in the thread has implied that strength is the strongest indicator for success at AFL either (even me with my biases would say it’s at best the 4th or 5th most important athletic quality for an AFL footballer).

Then we're basically arguing over an agreement?

 

[Eaglespur]

Casboult looks like a big unit

 

[Frank Gallagher]

A couple of days ago Jack Viney, who stands at 178cm/86kg, bench pressed 155 kilos. It got me wondering whether he's the strongest player in the AFL from a power to weight ratio.

Fraser Gehrig holds the record at the Saints with a press of 172.5kg, while it was reported a couple of years ago that Stefan Martin was king at Brisbane with a bench press of 150kg.

I'd embed the video here if I had more technical expertise, but below is the link of Viney's press. It's the second video down. Note: this shows a 150kg bench press, but he exceeded that not long after with 155.

https://20four.com.au/athletes/jack-viney/104

Of course, bench pressing isn't the only measure of someone's strength, but it's one of the most recognisable ways of evaluating power.

Is this a single press or a set? My brother did 170kg a few months back with a single, said his arseh*le almost popped out his mouth though (he weighs 97kgs but he's a serious body builder), iirc Dane Swan could bench 150+

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Bench press isn't a true measue of strength, if you watch the elite bench pressers you'll notice they all have very short arms, shorter the arms the better, dudes with long arms really struggle for obvious reasons, same goes for arm curls.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Dusty only benches about 90-100kg apparently, but his core strength is elite.

Wouldn't surprise me, the bloke has longish arms which helps with his don't argue, but 100kg isn't to shabby allnthe same for an elite endurance athlete.

 

[John Who]

Bench press isn't a true measue of strength, if you watch the elite bench pressers you'll notice they all have very short arms, shorter the arms the better, dudes with long arms really struggle for obvious reasons, same goes for arm curls.

Long arms need to fight more against gravity in a bench press. Long legs/trunks need to fight more against gravity in a dead lift.

 

[Aeglos]

Bench press isn't a true measue of strength, if you watch the elite bench pressers you'll notice they all have very short arms, shorter the arms the better, dudes with long arms really struggle for obvious reasons, same goes for arm curls.

It’s a true measure of strength . . . In the bench press.
Strength is very specific to a number of factors (motor pattern, movement velocity, direction of load, the type of load, where the load is applied, joint angle etc etc) which, imo, is why a sum of several joint/movement maximum torque is a more accurate measure of strength than say a bench press or squat (though far less practical).
Also, whilst you’re unlikely to see Spider Burton winning a bench press comp anytime soon most of the biggest benches of all time are done by reasonably long limbed lifters eg Kirill is about 197cm

 

[bombersfan4000]

Chris Judd claimed he carried the entire west coast team - Impressive

Melbourne’s Robbie Flower must have been the the strongest player at the demons in the 80s & early 90s! He carried the whole team for a good decade

 

[bombersfan4000]

Sav Rocca is under rated

I’d love to know what he could squat! The distance he could constantly kick a drop punt would have to be up there

 

[tigerT]

Neville Jetta is a small guy who I've rarely seen lose a 1 on 1 body on body contest, very very strong core - give me that over who can lift or bench/squat the most anyday

 

[parmy2balmey]

Luke McGuane at 90kgs could bench over 170kgs, that’s why they call him Muscles, very famous in Broadbeach for his power lifts

 

[Frank Gallagher]

It’s a true measure of strength . . . In the bench press.
Strength is very specific to a number of factors (motor pattern, movement velocity, direction of load, the type of load, where the load is applied, joint angle etc etc) which, imo, is why a sum of several joint/movement maximum torque is a more accurate measure of strength than say a bench press or squat (though far less practical).
Also, whilst you’re unlikely to see Spider Burton winning a bench press comp anytime soon most of the biggest benches of all time are done by reasonably long limbed lifters eg Kirill is about 197cm

I disagree, take me and my brother for example, he can press a truck (even as a kid) where i struggled to bench the bar, but, i was much stronger than him in tackling, he could wrap his arms around me and i'd break free, he had no chance of breaking loose of my bear hug, strength has many forms.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Luke McGuane at 90kgs could bench over 170kgs, that’s why they call him Muscles, very famous in Broadbeach for his power lifts

Not doubting that's what you heard, but trust me it's bullshit, 170kgs is huge, a 90kg AFL player could not bench that with the cardio they do, and he wasn't the rippest guy i've seen, had those long Tuck arms as well.

 

[parmy2balmey]

Not doubting that's what you heard, but trust me it's bullshit, 170kgs is huge, a 90kg AFL player could not bench that with the cardio they do, and he wasn't the rippest guy i've seen, had those long Tuck arms as well.

prob some mayo but it has been documented a few times he could bench over 150 with ease. unusual torso

 

[demondavey]

prob some mayo but it has been documented a few times he could bench over 150 with ease. unusual torso

Dropped 20kg in one post

 

[demondavey]

I'd like to know some deadlift and squat numbers.

 

[Aeglos]

I disagree, take me and my brother for example, he can press a truck (even as a kid) where i struggled to bench the bar, but, i was much stronger than him in tackling, he could wrap his arms around me and i'd break free, he had no chance of breaking loose of my bear hug, strength has many forms.

I think you’ve misunderstood my post as I was essentially saying the same thing.
Your brother is stronger specific to the requirements of bench press, you’re stronger specific to the requirements of tackling.

 

[parmy2balmey]

Dropped 20kg in one post

170kgs. There yar