Former World's Strongest Man to Play Rugby

ssaye

Dont know where to post this, haha

http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/ladslounge/2013/01/sunday-league-rugby-team-signs.html

irishbucsfan

ssaye wrote: »

Dont know where to post this, haha

http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/ladslounge/2013/01/sunday-league-rugby-team-signs.html

Jaysus, can you imagine lining out against him on a Sunday morning?

It just doesn't seem very fair... I'd imagine at that level you could stick him at loosehead and his strength alone, without technique, would basically win you the game based on scrum penalties! The team would actually enjoy knocking the ball on!

CIARAN_BOYLE

ssaye wrote: »

Dont know where to post this, haha

http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/ladslounge/2013/01/sunday-league-rugby-team-signs.html

He is also a former MMA fighter, a sandan karateka an amateur boxer and has played amateur rugby in Poland for a number of years.

Its not his rugby debut.

Fishooks13

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

He is also a former MMA fighter, a sandan karateka an amateur boxer

He also eats children

.ak

Stick him on the wing.

CatFromHue

Hmmm Amman is where Shane Williams grew up and played.

Aiden7

Here in England he would be told he is not big enough to play prop and needs to bulk up! lol

clsmooth

I know there's snow forecasted for London this weekend. -2 today. Hopefully we can get a decent mild day for the game so theres not so many cold hands out there. All these little factors can make the task even harder.

[Jackass]

I'd play him either in the centre or at number 8 personally. Depends on what kind of wheels he has on him, but if it takes two or three fellas to take him down then he'd be good at opening up space out wide! Definitely want him running at people though, and I wouldn't want a few broken necks / deaths on my concious if he played front row!!

tolosenc

Him at 1 and Carlin Isles at 11.

Clareman

Why are people saying play him as a prop, ffs, he's the whole front row.

Saying that, he looks very like a lady I met in Coppers many years ago........................






Joking

Irlandczyk

Clareman wrote: »

Why are people saying play him as a prop, ffs, he's the whole front row.

You may well be right! 00:17 :eek:

TimeToShine

Jesus christ... he would literally bulldoze a man to the floor, i'd say one of his legs weighs as much as the average scrum half.

.ak

Haha, feck sled training, now truck training will be the big thing.

harvester of sorrow

He wont be passing any drugs tests thats for sure:eek:

remwhite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-1Z1mmJ1io

Sinbad_NI

Penny would love to him outside the winger.

pickarooney

He could make a decent scrum half. None of that passing nonsense, just pick from the base of the scrum and run.

justsomebloke

As a strongman fan, the guy is a beast!!!! However he is also a 35 year old beast whos body has had many years of abuse so as such I doubt there is anything more to this story then him just trying a sport he likes the look of.

That said between himself and Carlin Isles we could could see the foundations of a very 'unique' rugby team

justsomebloke

harvester of sorrow wrote: »

He wont be passing any drugs tests thats for sure:eek:

Truthfully given his stint in boxing and MMA he would probably pass any test you could put in front of him these days

He's been rugby for years I thought? Given that there's been no reports of fatalities in matches he's played in I don't think he's as good as expected.

Agueroooo

pickarooney wrote: »

He could make a decent scrum half. None of that passing nonsense, just pick from the base of the scrum and run.

Exactly. Tell him to resemble something like a scared hedgehog and run!

Aiden7

justsomebloke wrote: »

As a strongman fan, the guy is a beast!!!! However he is also a 35 year old beast whos body has had many years of abuse so as such I doubt there is anything more to this story then him just trying a sport he likes the look of.

That said between himself and Carlin Isles we could could see the foundations of a very 'unique' rugby team

It would be a very unique team, another Strongman Terry Hollands played rugby for years before turning to Strongman at 24, played second row for Harlequins at underage levels I believe

pickarooney

How does Andrew Sheridan rate on a Strongman scale?

Aiden7

It says on wikipedia that Sheridan can bench press 225 kg and squat 275 kg, on the world strongest man site it says Hollands can bench 250 but can squat 375, i would say that Sheridan with Strongman training would have be a good strongman

davegrohl48

The logical end point of this. What would happen if a team set out to go for these type of players in the scrum. In other words a front five of the type of person who is of strongman strength.
Can you win a game based soley on total domination in the scrum?
Would the referee just move it to uncontested scrums?

justsomebloke

davegrohl48 wrote: »

The logical end point of this. What would happen if a team set out to go for these type of players in the scrum. In other words a front five of the type of person who is of strongman strength.
Can you win a game based soley on total domination in the scrum?
Would the referee just move it to uncontested scrums?

no a decent scrum unit would still win as experience and skill would play a major role. As noted in the post above your post alot of front rowers would actually make decent strongmen as is.

With the advent of professionalism most rugby players are now trained to maximise the strength and body shape most suited to their role. So yes they may be able to get stronger but generally that would be at the sacrifice of another aspect of their game.

Banbridgeman2

pudzianowski would have to drop most of his muscle in order to be effective or he would gas after 15mins. Too much oxygen required for that sort of muscle mass. Pudzianowski finished most his MMA fights in the first round. Whenever it went beyond that he'd gas and lose. I think in one fight he went purple and just gave up because he was gassed. I actually met him once and he is extremely intelligent funnily enough. Hopefully this gives more coverage to rugby in Poland. They could be a powerhouse if it took off in my opinion. Lots of natural rugby bulk on Polish men. I've worked with a few who didn't even go to the gym but were the size of backrowers. Think Georgia but with a MUCH bigger potential playing population

davegrohl48

I seen that fight where Pudzianowski gassed, yer man (big English fella looks like a film extra you'd hire to play hired muscle) was throwing him around at the end. Pudzianowski was weak as a lamb at that stage. Just really showed to me the connection between strength reserves and stamina.

As regards scrum, my question is if you had basically the best scrum in rugby and by some distance. You can smash every other scrum that you would meet. What would happen in that case? Is it possible to win a rugby match in that manner or would the referee move to uncontested? I thought with concerns for safety of the players they move to uncontested, but then you end up in scenario of maybe one side deliberately going backwards or to ground to get uncontested called?
People wondered about this when England got on top of us last year should we have tried to engineer uncontested.

penzo

Aiden7 wrote: »

It says on wikipedia that Sheridan can bench press 225 kg and squat 275 kg, on the world strongest man site it says Hollands can bench 250 but can squat 375, i would say that Sheridan with Strongman training would have be a good strongman

out of interest, anyone know who can bench the most on the irish squad? i'd reckon healy or ferris, but that's only a guess.

davegrohl48

You would imagine Healy has the best bench. Shorter arms than Ferris probably and that helps a fair bit.

Deano7788

penzo wrote: »

out of interest, anyone know who can bench the most on the irish squad? i'd reckon healy or ferris, but that's only a guess.

ROG

RoundBox11

I remember seeing an interview in the gym with one of the Irish players and they were asked who could bench the most. They weren't sure but they reckoned it might be Tom Court! Wouldn't be surprised. Bench press is all chest and triceps

.ak

IIRC Wally and Fez can (could) bench and deadlift silly weights.

CIARAN_BOYLE

.ak wrote: »

IIRC Wally and Fez can (could) bench and deadlift silly weights.

It used to be David Wallace. Before RWC2011 which Wallace unfortunately missed out (does anyone else still regret not seeing what Kidney would have done with the back row with Ferris/O'Brien/Heaslip/Wallace all fit and available) it was mentioned during an interview that Wallace had won a benching competition with the squad.

Fishooks13

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

It used to be David Wallace. Before RWC2011 which Wallace unfortunately missed out (does anyone else still regret not seeing what Kidney would have done with the back row with Ferris/O'Brien/Heaslip/Wallace all fit and available) it was mentioned during an interview that Wallace had won a benching competition with the squad.

Wouldn't surprise me. Wallace still uses the gym in UL and the weights he lifts are sick. Same with Flannery who I saw benching 130kg for 2 reps in there one night

Deano7788

Fishooks13 wrote: »

Wouldn't surprise me. Wallace still uses the gym in UL and the weights he lifts are sick. Same with Flannery who I saw benching 130kg for 2 reps in there one night

Wallace is the only person I've ever seen using the heaviest dumbbells there. I hate training when he's there, makes you feel weak .

RoundBox11

Fishooks13 wrote: »

Wouldn't surprise me. Wallace still uses the gym in UL and the weights he lifts are sick. Same with Flannery who I saw benching 130kg for 2 reps in there one night

Surely he'd max at higher than that???
I mean it's a lot but not for a professional front row forward. I'm surprised it's Wallace tbh.
Here's a video of Ferris in the gym and he's doing 120 pretty easily. http://youtu.be/7LntmtseiaA

Here's Castro doing one rep on 170 http://youtu.be/oy-QtQIMUkE

Banbridgeman2

Fishooks13 wrote: »

Wouldn't surprise me. Wallace still uses the gym in UL and the weights he lifts are sick. Same with Flannery who I saw benching 130kg for 2 reps in there one night

130kg for 2 reps isn't ridiculous. I know schools players who have got 1rep of 145kg!! In fact I never do max but I reckon I could get 130kg myself

ANXIOUS

Pretty sure I read that Ferris has all the records.

GerM

Aiden7 wrote: »

i would say that Sheridan with Strongman training would have be a good strongman

Sheridan wanted to be a powerlifter originally but wasn't good enough at which point he moved his focus back to rugby.

Blut2

Banbridgeman2 wrote: »

130kg for 2 reps isn't ridiculous. I know schools players who have got 1rep of 145kg!! In fact I never do max but I reckon I could get 130kg myself

A Saffer friend of mine gave me the below a while ago:

Super 14 Standards -

Backs
. Beep Test Level 13
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 11.40 min
. Standing 10m 1.68 sec
. Standing 40m 5.10 sec
. Rolling 40m 4.50 sec
. Bench Press 120 kg (265lb)
. Prone Row 100 kg (220lb)
. Squat 180 kg (400lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times

Forwards
. Beep Test Level 12
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 12.30 min
. Standing 10m 1.9 sec
. Standing 40m 5.50 sec
. Rolling 40m 5.00 sec
. Bench Press 150 kg (330lb)
. Prone Row 125 kg (275lb)
. Squat 225 kg (500lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times


Given Flannerys relative bulk I'd say he'd probably be hitting the 150kg bench mark at least, or would have been while still playing anyway.

Banbridgeman2

Blut2 wrote: »

A Saffer friend of mine gave me the below a while ago:

Super 14 Standards -

Backs
. Beep Test Level 13
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 11.40 min
. Standing 10m 1.68 sec
. Standing 40m 5.10 sec
. Rolling 40m 4.50 sec
. Bench Press 120 kg (265lb)
. Prone Row 100 kg (220lb)
. Squat 180 kg (400lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times

Forwards
. Beep Test Level 12
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 12.30 min
. Standing 10m 1.9 sec
. Standing 40m 5.50 sec
. Rolling 40m 5.00 sec
. Bench Press 150 kg (330lb)
. Prone Row 125 kg (275lb)
. Squat 225 kg (500lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times


Given Flannerys relative bulk I'd say he'd probably be hitting the 150kg bench mark at least, or would have been while still playing anyway.

Yeah I am shocked flannery only gets 130kg for 2 reps, very weak for a professional athlete of his size. I think even my 2 rep max would he higher and I'm only 92kg at 6'1 so lighter and longer arms!!

GerM

I think people are overestimating how much these guys lift. Of course there are guys that lift phenomenal weights but a lot of them don't lift anything eye opening. Jamie Noon, known for his physicality and hard running, had a max bench of 120kg. Trevor Brennan (weighing 110kg) had a max of 140kg. Josh Lewsey didn't bench for the most part, he generally focused on core weights and working off a swiss ball.

The likes of Ferris, Healy etc. are the exception as opposed to the rule for professional rugby players. I'm not surprised in the slightest to read Flannery's maximum reps were at 130kg.

mfceiling

Fishooks13 wrote: »

Wouldn't surprise me. Wallace still uses the gym in UL and the weights he lifts are sick. Same with Flannery who I saw benching 130kg for 2 reps in there one night

Pfffffft....I was in the gym last night and I says to the trainer.."throw on more weights". He says "there are no more"!!

Has anyone checked has this polish lad any Irish grandparents!! If he did get a spot on an Irish team it would be gas listening to Joe duffy...I'm telling you Joe, they're taking all the jobs Joe, Tony Buckley can't get a place because of this foreigner Joe!!

Blut2

GerM wrote: »

I think people are overestimating how much these guys lift. Of course there are guys that lift phenomenal weights but a lot of them don't lift anything eye opening. Jamie Noon, known for his physicality and hard running, had a max bench of 120kg. Trevor Brennan (weighing 110kg) had a max of 140kg. Josh Lewsey didn't bench for the most part, he generally focused on core weights and working off a swiss ball.

The likes of Ferris, Healy etc. are the exception as opposed to the rule for professional rugby players. I'm not surprised in the slightest to read Flannery's maximum reps were at 130kg.

The stats I posted above were only the minimum requirements expected by a SA Super Rugby team. I think 15 years ago you may have been correct, these days every player has to have serious strength across the board though.

Fishooks13

Jaysus! Maybe he was just warming up with the 130 so! And I can barely do 90!

Deano7788

Fishooks13 wrote: »

Jaysus! Maybe he was just warming up with the 130 so! And I can barely do 90!

In fairness, he's probably lost some strength since he retired, and I think he's lost a bit of size as well.

It's also not like the players keep this level of strength year round. It does decline a bit during the season, where the goal in the gym is purely to maintain as much strength as possible. It's only at the end of preseason that they would really be at their peak.

davegrohl48

Those Saffer stats are interesting but I'm unsure on some of them being really used as minimum standards.
The list of international sprinters in link below shows they run around 4.7 out of blocks at 40 metres.

http://myweb.lmu.edu/jmureika/track/splits/splits.html

Saffer Rugby back standing start - 5.1 seonds and this is a minimum standard. Someone like Bryan Habana could probably do it but not too many others.

Clareman

You mean a former professional player is "only" benching 130, ffs lads the man is retired now and is only interested in maintaining rather than bulking up.

Higher

Fishooks13 wrote: »

Jaysus! Maybe he was just warming up with the 130 so! And I can barely do 90!

Doubt he'd warm up with a 2 rep bench press. Nice to know I can bench more than an international front rower