Triathlon coach joins Dogs
Triathlon coach joins Dogs AAP | October 27, 2008 04:10pm http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24558761-19775,00.html FORMER international triathlon coach Bill Davoren will switch to the AFL, joining the Western Bulldogs as head of physical conditioning. Davoren ended his six-year term as Triathlon Australia's national performance director after the Beijing Olympics. Emma Snowsill won Australia's first Olympic triathlon gold medal in Beijing. Davoren has worked with some of this country's top triathletes, including Commonwealth Games gold medallist Brad Kahlefeldt, Snowsill's fiance Craig Walton and Ironman winner Jason Shortis. His wife Louise twice finished among the top-10 women at the Hawaiian Ironman. Davoren developed strong links with the AFL over the past few years. He will start with the Bulldogs on November 5. "This is a very exciting challenge, being involved within the AFL has been a long term goal, Davoren said in a club statement.

Sounds like a very good appointment.

Dogs will rise to Olympic heights Jon Ralph | November 14, 2008 12:00am http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24648477-19775,00.html NEW Western Bulldogs fitness coach Bill Davoren could be forgiven a little cockiness as the mastermind behind Australia's first Olympic triathlon gold medal. Surely the transition from jet-setting international elite coach back to one of Victoria's 10 AFL clubs shapes as a doddle? Davoren, who started at Whitten Oval last week, said there was no danger of him underestimating the task. "It would be pretty arrogant to say that I can bring anything they haven't already got," Davoren said this week. "I see footballers as elite athletes. Their training levels and requirements are as high as any Olympic athlete. That is very clear to me already. "It's probably the most dynamic game in the world. There is not another game that requires the myriad movements and challenges, from a fitness, skill and decision-making point of view. I see it as the most significantly challenging game over a two-hour window." Therein lies the challenge for Davoren. The former sports science manager at the Tasmanian Institute of Sport spent eight years heading the Australian triathlon team. Based on the Gold Coast, he helped bring about Emma Snowsill's Beijing victory as well as reaping the men's and women's gold medals at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. But after spending 25 weeks a year following the triathlon tour overseas, his young family meant something had to give. Just as Carlton fitness guru Justin Cordy was lured from the Australian cricket team, AFL sides are increasingly looking outside the square for fitness expertise. "I was at a point in my life where I couldn't do the repetitive international travel. I had to look for another opportunity in life, and then this came up," Davoren said. "I have had a passion for football for a long time, and it is something that has kept some balance in my life in triathlon. "If you talk to the guys in the triathlon community, they will say they got sick of me playing the radio in France listening to the footy at seven o'clock in the morning." The Essendon fan said he was now converted to the Bulldogs, and looking forward to learning with the Dogs' sports science team. "The opportunity came up and I wasn't sure if I would be the fit they wanted, but I was fortunate to be chosen, and it is an intriguing challenge," he said. "It is a massive learning curve for me. But my strength is I have been an elite coach, and operated at the highest level of sport, and understand the pressures to perform from an athlete and coaches' point of view." Davoren will take care of the running side of the fitness program - strength and endurance - but said he would not try to reinvent the wheel. "We have some really good staff down here that will provide some continuity from last season. When I asked people about the club, everyone spoke so highly of the list, and the attitude of the list," he said. "I have left an environment where your training has to be at the highest level, because if you don't you are left behind. So to hear people outside the club speak about the attitude, that's great."