The New South Welshman spent a fortnight at Adelaide in early-November to help establish the Club’s strength, power and speed program.
The timing of Poulos’ return to Australia coincided with the ASCA conference, where he was presented with the Bruce Walsh award, recognising outstanding work in the strength and conditioning industry.
“The award came out of left-field a bit,” Poulos told afc.com.au from Doha.
“Bruce Walsh was famous in Australian weightlifting circles and coached quite a number of athletes.
“He was very well-credentialed, so it’s a great honour to receive an award in his name.”
Poulos hails from a rugby background, but has spent the past four years working as the strength and conditioning coach for the track and field team at the Aspire Academy.
Aspire is the largest indoor sporting complex in the world, complete with an enclosed full-size soccer pitch and grandstand.
The Academy is home to more than 200 developing athletes (most aged between 12-18 years old) and 30 of the world’s best coaches and sports scientists.
Carlton players recently travelled to Aspire for a training camp and were overwhelmed by its size and state of the art facilities.
“You really do have to see it to believe it,” Poulos said.
“The facilities are great, but the biggest thing for me has been the network of people I’ve worked with, all the coaches and sports science personnel from around the globe in one institute.
“It’s been amazing and you’ll never find anything like this anywhere else in the world."
Poulos’ position at Aspire has not been without its challenges, with extreme heat, local customs such as Ramadan (Islamic month of fasting) and a traditional non-sports upbringing all obstacles he's had to overcome.
“The aim of the Academy is to nurture young developing athletes,” Poulos said.
“In Australia, we’re brought up on sport, but in the Middle East sport is not a major focus for young people.
“Trying to get a kid to catch a ball at nine years of age is a battle in itself, so you’re starting a bit behind but by the time they finish with the Academy we’ve bridged that gap.”
While Poulos hasn’t been on hand at West Lakes, he’s communicated with physical performance manager Stephen Schwerdt and fitness coach Matthew Bode on a daily basis via Skype and email.
“Stephen and ‘Bodey’ have been keeping me informed with how the boys have done each day in their training,” he said.
“I’ve been away, but I’ve been keeping a close eye on the guys.
“I’ve received quite a bit of video footage of the guys in the gym, so I can look at their technique when I get back.
“I feel like I’ve been wearing two hats as I wind up here and do the work over there.
“It’s been a bit frustrating ... I would’ve loved to have been at the Club already.”
The strength and conditioning role at Adelaide will be Poulos’ first foray into AFL coaching.
“My main background is in rugby and track and field, but I was a Sydney Swans member before I went overseas and have always loved the game,” he said.
“It’s always been on my to-do list to work inside an AFL club.
“It’s a new challenge and while there are differences between rugby and AFL, I think there are a lot of things we can bring across.
“AFL is becoming a lot more physical when you look at the emphasis on winning contested ball.
“Tackling is another big one. Just from seeing the game as a spectator, I think there are teams that can improve in that area.
“Boxing will bring that overall physicality. It will also increase the players’ reaction time and make them less concerned about copping a hit, so they can concentrate on the important elements of the game and their skills.
“I hear there have been a few sore bodies with the increased physical training … and there are more to come.”
Poulos will arrive in Adelaide this weekend in preparation for training on Monday morning.
Prior to moving to Doha, the Ph.D scholar spent three years in Japan with Toyota Rugby, a club in the Top League (Japan's professional rugby competition).
Whilst in Japan, he also acted as a consultant with the Chukyo University Track and Field team and worked with Tonga in the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
After seven years abroad, Poulos said he was excited to be returning to Australia.
“I might be a bit jet-lagged, but I’ll be on a buzz ready to rip into the last few weeks of training before Christmas,” he said.
“You can have all the facilities, resources and people in the world, but you still have to have motivated athletes to work hard.
“My philosophy is that the athletes have to inherently want to train and do the right things.
“If they can do that, you can lead them in the right direction and with up-to-date sports science practices, correct training systems and a bit of hardness when it counts ... hopefully, you can take them to a place they haven't been before while making sure they can keep competing at the highest level."
As the Crows prepare for season 2012 on the track, be sure to visit 19thman.com.au and renew or join the Club for 2012.
