AS ELITE sporting organisations constantly scan other clubs and sports for the latest innovations, Simon Kearney represents a gold mine of information.

Kearney, who has just joined St Kilda as Sports Science Manager, comes to the club with a rich history in a variety of different sports.

Some of the country’s best footballers, rugby league players, basketballers and tennis stars have worked with Kearney in the past decade.

He juggled duties with Melbourne Football Club and NBL team Melbourne Tigers from 2000 to 2004 before he moved to Tennis Australia for six years.

During that time he worked with academy players and Alicia Molik who reached a world ranking of eighth in early 2005.

Kearney then moved to NRL team Melbourne Storm where he spent the past two years and was crucial to the premiership win this year.

He said he was hoping to bring his detailed fatigue measurements and an emphasis on altitude training to his new role.

“There were a number of ways we’d measure player fatigue levels which I’ve brought across from the Storm which we started there. We’ll be implementing those at St Kilda and the altitude programs we’ve started at the Storm as well,” Kearney said.

“We’re off to Colorado in a few weeks and using the chamber here as well. We’ve got a few big plans to do with altitude as well that we’d like to bring out to Seaford.”

Kearney has a strong emphasis on tailored programs which he said came from his time working in tennis where he would work with players who were travelling around the world or staying at home preparing for different surfaces and had different injury histories.

He said training programs were becoming more specific at AFL level.

“The age of the player is a big one, the position is a factor as well. Their injury history and the expectations of what they need to do to perform well in their position from a physiological point of view are big ones as well,” he said.

Kearney has been heavily involved in the planning for the coming trip to Colorado where the players will undergo altitude training. He said there were a number of advantages the players could get from the two-week camp.

“It will be huge. There are a lot of benefits you can get from altitude and apart from the whole altitude side of things it is also a really good way to get the team together and go over their structures,” he said.

“Getting all the boys in the one place 24 hours a day for three weeks is pretty unique so it would be a really good base and really good building for a year ahead.”

But there are special circumstances that mean he will have to miss the trip as his wife Danielle is due to give birth to their second child.

Kearney smiles as he reflects on the timing of the due date.

“She’s due right in the middle of the camp. That’s not to say she couldn’t come in the next few days,” he said.

“I’ll look after the rehab boys back here and if bubs comes early I might shoot over there for the camp. At the moment we’re not quite sure what’s going on until number two comes along.”