Eagles Angels News

Liz Marin….Women of Manly

24/9/2009

By Mary Finkelsen - Eagles Angels Manager

Females working in the coaching area of Rugby League are rare.  Manly has always tried to be ahead of it’s time in that area.  Our Operations Manager is female……De Lees and another female in the coaching staff area is Liz Marin.  Even though Liz is tiny you can’t help but notice her…..she has a dazzling smile and gorgeous skin….she also has that look of intense concentration when she is explaining things to people.  You can just tell she loves her job.   She is also the lady with one of the most envied job in our club………she knows every little detail about our boys…..probably more intimately than their own partners!   So Liz and I got together and talked about rehab, annoying players and salsa dancing!

Mary Finkelsen
Warringah Mall Eagles Angels Manager
 
How long have you been with the club?
3 years. The first two years I worked for the Sydney Academy of Sport, in the High Performance Lab and the Sea Eagles were my main client.  After last year’s result, the club hired me fulltime.

What's your title??
High Performance Analyst but I just call myself the Physiologist.
 
So what do you actually do?
I run all the testing in the preseason to check how fit they are and determine how fit they are to game fitness.  I am in charge of monitoring performance both in the game and throughout the training week.  I do this with the GPS system, that tells me HR, Distance, Impacts, Speeds and workloads for each training session and game. When we are indoors I use our indoor HR system (Suunto) monitor their workloads. I also help out Donny (Head strength and conditioning) with conditioning.  So I get to work the players too!!!  During the season I run extra cardio sessions for our middle men (the bigger players), just to make sure their fitness is among the best. I also get special projects from week to week to work on.  It might be testing jumping ability for the backs or looking at hydration levels of the players, every week is different and this keeps it interesting for me.
 
So...you get the information... how do you relay it to Des...do you just give him the info or do you make recommendations???  Do you do reports?
Des and Donny get reports everyday from me.  I mainly relay my feedback through Donny but we have staff meetings weekly and I have a chance to voice my opinion there.  When we are in field sessions I yell out values that are significant. During Games I speak to Kel and Donny at half time on how the players are going. 
 
I know this is a silly question to ask you of all people...but do you think sometimes there is 'too much' science....is the information sometimes ignored and decisions made on gut feel or recommendation from the players and other support staff?
It depends, I don’t think there is too much science.   I think there is a lot of data to get through and I just look through it all and pick out what is significant. A lot of the data and monitoring that I do takes out a lot of the guess work out for the training staff and coaches.  Everything has become more specific to Rugby League and each individual player.  The monitoring that I do prevents overtraining, helps players in rehab come back fit for game fitness, helps in preventing injury.  By doing all this it hopefully extends the playing careers of the players. 
 
What Degree did you do?
I did a Bachelor Degree in Applied science (Exercise & Sport Science) and I also did my post graduate studies in Health Science.
 
How long did this take you?  Did you always have an interest in this area?
My Undergraduate degree was 3 years fulltime and my post grad 4 years part time. I always wanted to work with athletes since I was a kid.  I was into sport growing up and always wanted to work with the best athletes.
 
How do you think you can use this in the future??
It’s been a tough road to get here, so I’m going to enjoy this job for a while.  Haven’t really thought much about the next step.  When I finished uni, I wanted to work with Olympic athletes and I achieved that a lot faster than I thought.  Then I thought about working for professional sport, which is footy codes in Australia.   But I was told by other people in my field that my chances of that were not very good because I was female.  So right now I’m enjoying this for as much as I can.
 
Do you go to away games?
Yes, the players wear GPS in all the games. Most of the time I travel up on the day of the game, but I have been stayed away with the team a few times.
 
How do they treat you as a woman – like one of the 'boys' but with respect??
I guess I do get treated as one of the boys…. but different. I still get paid out on but I put up a good fight, but I must admit I do give it back to them just as bad.  The boys have great respect for me.  I have never felt intimidated or uncomfortable.  I have loads of fun at work and family and friends that have seen how I interact with players realize what a great job I have.

Where do you live ?
I live in Kogarah (I know….OMG). Yes I drive 1 hour each day to get to work. In the sport science there isn’t much job security, so I’ve stayed in one spot. But the club has decided to keep me on for next season, so I will move closer to work. 
 
Surely they may let you rent one of the cabins at Narrabeen Academy??!!
Yeah I could, but I have lived at the Academy before with Outdoor ED, I like my own space, I’ve been trying to save up for my own place though.
 
Where do you come from? 
My parents are Colombian.  I was born in Melbourne and I have huge extended family here in Australia.
 
What did you do before?
I worked at NSW Institute of Sport for 3 years as strength and conditioning coach for 7 sports.   I’ve run my own business.   I did outdoor Education at the Academy and then worked in the High Performance Lab at the Academy.
 
Do you enjoy Rugby League?
I never followed any team until I starting working with the Sea Eagles. I enjoy watching most sports.
 
How did you feel after their Grand Final win last year?
It was the best! I knew by then that I had a job with the club and it made it an even bigger celebration for me!
 
Did you go away with them to the World Cup??
No I didn’t. Des needed me to stay behind to look after the players that stayed behind.  But I have been promised that I will go the next big trip.  It was a great result, so much work went into preseason to get that result.  I was so proud of them all, especially big George for making his come back.
 
How do you relax - what are your hobbies? 
I go out with my friends whenever I get a chance.  I always make time to do something with my mum every week.  I like to make things but I go through phases as to what that might be.  But I love cooking for people.  I haven’t had much chance lately though.

How do you cope with the boys when they win or lose?? 
Win or lose I try and be as positive as I can.  I have a lot of faith and respect for the players and the staff we have.  I always say to people that if I don’t believe we can win every game then I really shouldn’t be here.

What sort of things do you like making?
Its changes all the time .  I’ve done painting and mosaic art.   I’ve made natural based soaps and lotions and  also jewellery.  At the moment I’ve been going through interior design magazines and started plan what I want my new place to look like.
 
What do you have typically in your handbag (look in it!!) ?
I don’t carry one. I have a bad habit of carrying my phone, lip gloss, license and money in my pocket or I give it all to my friends to carry. Well, last year for my birthday and Christmas I was given a few handbags, so I received the message loud and clear.
 
Cooking?  Do you like it?
I love cooking!  Whenever I go overseas I aim to do a cooking class in that country, so I learn to do their traditional dishes.   I also love making everything from scratch.  I have all my own spice as, so flavor is a big plus in my cooking.  I make all my sauces, curries and even pasta from scratch.  At the moment I love cooking Moroccan and Indian.
 
What's your favourite food?
ICE CREAM
 
What flavour?
Cookies and Cream

Finish these sentences....

The player that makes me laugh the most is…………………Hally and L’estrange Duo

Why...what do they do?
What don’t they do!!  Everyday they make me laugh.  They are always mucking around and having fun.
 
I suppose you are going to seriously miss them?
Heaps!  I’ve worked with Hally the most over the last 3 years because he is a middleman and when I first started I only worked with the bench players.  He is the player that picks on me the most but he is also the one that checks on me when I’m having a tough time.  L’estrange is just an awesome bloke, always really positive and full of energy.  Stranger is the one that sticks up for me when I get picked on. 
 
The player that is most annoying is………………………Josh Perry.  He is always looking for an argument and always throws things at me.
 
The most annoying this player has done……can’t think of anyone specificly………they hide the gps units from me.  Or they run away from me while I’m trying to give to them, so I end up running after them around the field.  People watching find this funny.
 
The most ‘romantic' player………….The players don’t tell me much about their personal life but I think that all of them are capable of being romantic.
 
The quietest player……Farrar.
 
The most ‘sensitive new age’ guy player………..Heath L’estrange
 
Weird pre-game superstitions………………Nothing has stood out yet.
 
Geoff Toovey – you have much to do with him……what’s he like to work with……
I discuss game gps results with Geoff and the rest of the coaching staff every week. I sometimes have ideas for new drills are rugby league specific tests and both Geoff and Kelly Egan are great to pick their footy brains. Cause I never played the game and don’t have as much experience with the game, they are both great sources of knowledge. 
 
Women in League – do you think the NRL as a whole does enough?? 
Are there enough women working in top league positions?  Do you think they’d make a difference?
I think that it is great that more women are in top league positions.  I have always thought that the best person for the job should get the job and if that person is a woman, so be it.   Opportunities should be given to everyone. As for whether there is enough women in league……..I don’t know.  If there were more, would it make a difference….I don’t know that either.  But I would be asking….. are women given the same opportunities to work in league? If they are…. great! If not…….why? It might be the case of providing more education, training or experience for women to work in league.

When I finished my undergraduate degree the NSW Institute of Sport gave me a scholarship to be a Strength and Conditioning Coach. The funding came from Women in Sport organization.  At that time there wasn’t many women working in strength and conditioning.  They saw this as a way to get more women in the industry.  It included my post graduate study and I was secured a job after one year. It was the same as a job but I had people looking over my work.  I was also able to meet other female strength and conditioners, and did many courses in my field. It was the toughest year though, I had 200 athletes to look after, studying at night and working in retail on the weekend.  But I look back on it now and it’s the main thing that has got me where I am today. 
 
If you were to appear on Dancing with the Stars who you pick?  Ideal man?
I’m Colombian, so I already know how to dance salsa. I love dancing with good dancers. I’ve always wanted to do classes to improve on what I know but I have never had a chance.  As for the ideal man?  Can’t think of one.

 

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