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Xavier Brown who once raced with Usain Bolt has been revealed as the Tigers x-factor
Nick Walshaw
The Daily Telegraph
December 25, 2013 10:00PM
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A JAMAICAN sprinter who once trained alongside Usain Bolt has been revealed as the new "X-factor" at Wests Tigers.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Xavier Brown - who once raced in the same relay team as Olympic superstars Bolt and Yohan Blake - has spent the past three months working exclusively with the Tigers as they prepare for life without Benji Marshall.
Breaking 10 seconds for the 100m sprint in his prime, 30-year-old Brown has worked closely with backline flyers Tim Simona, Chris Lawrence and Dave Nofoaluma - all of whom insist they are running faster since the sessions.
"Oh, my sprint times are definitely down,'' Simona said. "There are so many little tips Xavier teaches you, it's incredible."
So what's the secret? Having spent seven years working alongside the fastest man on the planet, how does Bolt continually travel faster than bad news?
"The key – belief,'' Brown insists. "Usain Bolt believes he is the fastest man on earth because, every day of his life, he works at being just that.
"Honestly, when it comes to training sessions, Bolt is an animal. Doesn't stop.
"But he also creates an environment that ensures he can love every minute of what he's doing too."
The Wests Tigers are preparing for life without Benji Marshall who switched codes to Rugby Union.
The Wests Tigers are preparing for life without Benji Marshall who switched codes to Rugby Union. Source: News Limited
Preparing to play without the departed Marshall for the first time in over a decade, the Tigers are keen to create some extra spark in a backline that, with the likes of Lawrence, Simona and Fijian flyer Marika Koroibete, boasts some of the quickest feet in the NRL.
Enter Brown.
Giving up a potential soccer career for sprinting at the age of 20, the chiselled athlete then spent almost a decade working under the tuteldege of famed Jamaican Olympic coach Glen Mills. Injured in 2010, he then switched to coaching and started up his own athletes club.
And it was here Brown first met Hayden Knowles, the Wests Tigers sprint coach who visits Jamaica regularly with athletes like 100m sprinter Jarrod Geddes, who are signed to his Competitive Edge stable.
Asked why he brought Brown Down Under, Knowles said: "Xavier owns the type of experiences that nobody else in Australia can offer.
"He's spent seven years working with the absolute best in the business. He can see the tiniest little thing that can help improve a footballers sprint times."
Xavier Brown, Jamaican Sprint Coach, right, coaching Tim Simona of the wests Tigers, at concord Oval.
Despite having no clue about rugby league before his Australian trip, Brown has since fallen in love with the sport after spending considerable time with league legends like Brad Fittler, Gorden Tallis, Steve Roach and Jarryd Hayne.
"And the Tigers players, they have been so willing to learn,'' he says. "The key for me was to really take them right back to the basics of their technique. Go back to the simplest little things -- like how they get onto the balls of their feet, how they swing their arms -- and make some slight adjustments."
Nick Walshaw
The Daily Telegraph
December 25, 2013 10:00PM
\
\
A JAMAICAN sprinter who once trained alongside Usain Bolt has been revealed as the new "X-factor" at Wests Tigers.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Xavier Brown - who once raced in the same relay team as Olympic superstars Bolt and Yohan Blake - has spent the past three months working exclusively with the Tigers as they prepare for life without Benji Marshall.
Breaking 10 seconds for the 100m sprint in his prime, 30-year-old Brown has worked closely with backline flyers Tim Simona, Chris Lawrence and Dave Nofoaluma - all of whom insist they are running faster since the sessions.
"Oh, my sprint times are definitely down,'' Simona said. "There are so many little tips Xavier teaches you, it's incredible."
So what's the secret? Having spent seven years working alongside the fastest man on the planet, how does Bolt continually travel faster than bad news?
"The key – belief,'' Brown insists. "Usain Bolt believes he is the fastest man on earth because, every day of his life, he works at being just that.
"Honestly, when it comes to training sessions, Bolt is an animal. Doesn't stop.
"But he also creates an environment that ensures he can love every minute of what he's doing too."
The Wests Tigers are preparing for life without Benji Marshall who switched codes to Rugby Union.
The Wests Tigers are preparing for life without Benji Marshall who switched codes to Rugby Union. Source: News Limited
Preparing to play without the departed Marshall for the first time in over a decade, the Tigers are keen to create some extra spark in a backline that, with the likes of Lawrence, Simona and Fijian flyer Marika Koroibete, boasts some of the quickest feet in the NRL.
Enter Brown.
Giving up a potential soccer career for sprinting at the age of 20, the chiselled athlete then spent almost a decade working under the tuteldege of famed Jamaican Olympic coach Glen Mills. Injured in 2010, he then switched to coaching and started up his own athletes club.
And it was here Brown first met Hayden Knowles, the Wests Tigers sprint coach who visits Jamaica regularly with athletes like 100m sprinter Jarrod Geddes, who are signed to his Competitive Edge stable.
Asked why he brought Brown Down Under, Knowles said: "Xavier owns the type of experiences that nobody else in Australia can offer.
"He's spent seven years working with the absolute best in the business. He can see the tiniest little thing that can help improve a footballers sprint times."
Xavier Brown, Jamaican Sprint Coach, right, coaching Tim Simona of the wests Tigers, at concord Oval.
Despite having no clue about rugby league before his Australian trip, Brown has since fallen in love with the sport after spending considerable time with league legends like Brad Fittler, Gorden Tallis, Steve Roach and Jarryd Hayne.
"And the Tigers players, they have been so willing to learn,'' he says. "The key for me was to really take them right back to the basics of their technique. Go back to the simplest little things -- like how they get onto the balls of their feet, how they swing their arms -- and make some slight adjustments."
