Thanks to ELMO Software, our HR & payroll partner, we chat to Head Physiotherapist Richard Citroen.

Name: Richard Citroen
Tenure: 2014 - Present
Role: Head Physiotherapist
Favourite food: Cheese
Favourite gym activity: Any core exercise other than the Front Plank

What does your day-to-day look like, in-season and out of season?

It changes from day to day. On a normal training day, it would start with a couple of meetings with the Physio team before players arrive. Then we’d prepare for training and assess or treat any niggling injuries before the main training session (and strap any joints that need to be strapped). I meet with any players in the rehab group, then hand over any specifics to Marcus (who’s our rehab specialist) to factor into their sessions.

Following that, we'd have a mini meeting before training with a wider group of Physios, Doctors and high performance staff to discuss anything else that might have popped up. After training I’ll do a wrap up, touch base with all listed players - to see if they had any physical issues during training. I'll then chat with the strength & conditioning staff about any modifications that need to be made to their programs for the rest of that day. After this treatment, gym, exercises prescription, planning and more meetings round out the rest of the day.

Out of season, there’s no training involved initially so it's predominantly meetings within the football department and looking after players in the rehab group that may have had surgeries or injuries towards the end of the season.

Once the players off-season programs kick into gear its treatment, gym, exercises prescription, planning and dealing with any injuries or other concerns that pop up.

What did you study?

I initially studied exercise science (undergrad in Exercise Science - 3 years), then a Post-Graduate Diploma in Exercise Rehab before flipping across to Physio where I completed my undergraduate Physio degree (3 years) and Masters of Sports Physio (two years).

How did you get into your role?

I worked for a few years in sub-elite sport, in particular with the Vic Metro Under 18 team for a couple of years. I also worked within amateur football clubs and at a Sports Medical Clinic for a few years as well.

In 2011, I was travelling with my wife and we had a few chats about where life was going, one of which was that I wanted to get into elite sport, which meant I needed to gain a bit more experience at the elite level and do a bit of extra study.

Upon return I got a job as the Head Physio at Melbourne City Soccer Club in 2013, then I went to the AIS in Canberra. I lived and worked there in 2014, before starting with the Saints at the end of 2014.

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What are the biggest changes or challenges you have seen in the last few years in the approach to training or management of elite athletes?

The impact of COVID-19 has had the most influence in the last couple of years, in particular the change of training loads on players. It’s well documented that a change in training load brings about a significantly increased risk of injury.

Changing training loads might mean needing to go to a different gym, a different training venue or even playing on a different oval to what you’re used to. This year we had seven weeks between Marvel games and Marvel is known as one of the hardest decks in the AFL, so you go from soft training decks to a hard playing deck and there’s an increased chance of injuries that come out of that. There’s also an increase in sitting on planes and busses when travelling, alongside the change in duration of games.

When there’s change, your training program and management of players has to adapt accordingly.

How do you keep players motivated when they’re in the rehab group, or a while away from returning?

The players are generally motivated by playing football. They love footy and when footy is taken away from them, they’ll do anything to get back. That’s the big carrot at the end of the rehab period.

Having little milestones on the way is important. For example, with Gresh or Pato this year once they came out of the boot they tick off a small little milestone where they can walk, then we set up little milestones for them to run, then kick a footy, then from there they can train and return to play.

Can you talk about how the medical and high-performance teams work together? Why is culture so important in a team environment?

There wouldn’t be 7 days in a year that I go without speaking to the High Performance Manager, Doctor or the other members in the High Performance crew such as the Strength & Conditioning and rehab staff.

The communication between high performance staff and medical staff optimises performance and is absolutely critical to everything we do.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I love challenging standard 'return to play' timelines and trying to find ways to fast track rehab that you wouldn’t otherwise do in private practice. It is one of the key factors that differentiates my role from what you would normally see in a private practice physio environment.

However, the thing I enjoy most about my role is the people I work with, the staff and players at the Saints and having a relationship with the people I’m treating and communicating with every day. 

How important is a tailored/personalised approach to what you do? Does a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach ever work?

The easy answer is no – it doesn’t work. I suppose as Physios we’re more involved with rehabbing injuries and preventing injuries than we are with the generalised conditioning side of the program. Every athlete is different and every injury has its own little set of idiosyncrasies that need to be identified and respected to optimise the outcomes of what we do.

I think there is a generalised framework within the program that most players follow to try and get fit and play well. Part of that is injury prevention, so all the boys will do specific hamstring exercises to reduce their likelihood of getting hamstring strains for example. But most specific rehab and injury prevention exercises are completely different from one player to the next.

What advice do you have for someone looking to get their foot in the door in a similar role?

Surround yourself with good people that are well respected and keen to facilitate your learning and development. Have an insatiable thirst for learning and self-improvement.