www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/news/453 ... S%20SYSTEM Hopefully not based on the "Cheap Sats Navs" which ask are we there yet!

www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/news/453 ... S%20SYSTEM Hopefully not based on the "Cheap Sats Navs" which ask are we there yet!

It's an interesting idea.

I suppose it will also be useful for pointing out players who are often caught out of position.
Can't hide from the machine, after all

Think this will be helpful and could help out some players who are poor with positioning, and if i am correct (please, do correct me if I am wrong) it is similar to the system they use on professional cyclists for example the system can tell you whether a certain speed etc. would be suitable for a certain part in a race. For example, I think it would tell us which players seem to use up more energy in the opening minutes and then tire at the end (I know this happens naturally with every player, but with some even more so) for example, Scruton ran around like a man posessed sometimes in his first spell and then quietened down in his second (not that I am criticizing it, it was quality to watch).

This is only a few electrodes away from Steve Mac sat in the dugout twiddling his little joystick










=#FFFF80No ME - not [ithat[/i little joystick

When they realised it would zap Paul Sykes and Dicky Ricky everytime they broke the defensive line, it was a no brainer to px the system!


Though they haven't figured out the software yet to stop Platty's brainfarts!


I also believe it can make Dave Halley smile more often!

seems a bit strange that we're getting so much coverage about introducing the gps stuff when wigan announced they were going to use it a month or so back. Maybe an example of our new marketing man getting positive news out their?

Hopefully, and it shows the clubs going in the right direction if it wants to get anything positive into the mass media!


I've been really happy with the noises te club has been making over the past month or so, I can only assume our new board member and new conditioner are both having the desired positive effects.

At Warrington the players have also been using the GPS system in pre season training and heart rate monitors as well that our new conditioner has brought in.

So if the RFL has given the go ahead for match use then Warrington will be using the GPS in matches as well.

Perhaps that's why it is big news?

It's very impressive though, technology these days! Next they will have phones that you can take anywhere with you...

The one thing that keeps coming back to me is this; if you`ve not also got details of just where the opposition players were, how do you know whether your own team is out of position? It seems to me that this information is inextricably linked.

They should be able to see things like players out of the defensive line, as well as tracking the distance covered by each player.

I'm all for using new things but I'd be interested to know what the new stuff shows that we didn't already know or could find out by simply watching the games back or compiling stats on what players were doing.

For instance we all know which players struggle positionally in defence. Also we all know which forwards work the hardest.

think the new system gives us additional info such as heart rate, which can be used to judge fitness levels. I'd also guess it gives us a more accurate breakdown of distance and speed covered in different periods of match, as opposed to the general meters made stats.

More info can only be a good thing imo. What will really be interesting is how we make use it I guess.

Yeah but there's an easier way of doing that. Just look for the number 16 on the back of the player's shirt.

Its probably similar to the Prozone system so beloved of puff ball, but using computers instead of cameras, thus making it portable more flexible and the bottom line cheaper

The gps system shows much more information than compiling stats. GPS can give you real time data so you know how much work each player is doing, which would be very useful in terms of interchanges. While stats can give you metres covered in a game, they do not indicate the intensity of the distance covered; as it is a sport where repeated sprint ability dominates this becomes a very important factor, as simply distance covered could be misleading. The system also gives you running and movement patterns of each palyer, so will indicate differences between positions and allow you to tailor conditioning to the position and even the individual that are truly specific. HR can be shown, and what % of their max each player is working at allowing exertion rates to be calculated indicating how taxed the players are; it would be useful in training as a monitoring tool, but the activio heart rate system that someone mentioned is more likely to be used in training as it is more simple to implement but only gives you HR zones, and exertion rates. The gps also calculates the force applied in each collision and gives you more insight into the physiological demands of the game. Using such a system is vital in order to monitor intensity and volume load for each player so that you can assess improvements in fitness and prevent overtraining; as well as making conditioning and training more sport specific.

All in all it is excellent news that the bulls are progressing with sport science; and the rest of super league by the sounds of things. In elite level sport doing all the little thinggs correctly can make a huge difference in terms of results on the pitch.

You certainly sound very clued up on it RB! Do you work for the makers?? Seriously, it sounds very impressive and all encompassing, though I guess we`ll have to suck it and see, with the proof of the pudding and all that (and any other clichés I can come up with!). It`s probably better to get in at the beginning with this kind of training aid and if it turns out to be a waste of time and money it can be ditched later. It would be much more difficult to try and catch up later if is a success and we hadn`t bothered.

The one caveat I would throw in though, is that whilst technology is often a brilliant slave it can be a very poor master, and like gps use in a car, sometimes you just have to use common sense and overrule the machine.

We've got the same system down here in Perpignan, but like Warrington are only allowed to use it in training at the moment. Still if Bradford have been given permission to use it in a match it shouldn't be long before it is allowed here!

No dont work for the makers, have done some work about gps monitoring with my MSc, may be doing my dissertation on it. At first they were a bit dodgy, but they are getting better and better, the ones out at the minute are pretty good, except the pack worn in the vest is still pretty large (bout the size of a mobile), no doubt as the technology progresses they will get smaller. If you took a bang straight on the pack it would hurt a bit, but on your backs it is unlikey to happen. I noticed kevin sinfield was wearin one in the Australia game, im sure others were too.

All sounds very interesting. Good to see the club being innovative and being amongst the first clubs to use it.

It'd be good if there was some description of this at the fans forum.