I started the Up ‘n Running Physio clinic in March 2019 after years of being involved in sport and private practice. The practice is located in the Pavilion at Phillip Oval and was established to compliment the Phillip Oval Sporting Precinct which is home to AFL Canberra and Cricket ACT.

Being from the sporting capital of Australia, Melbourne, I completed a Human Movement degree at Ballarat University in the hope of becoming a Phys Ed teacher but soon discovered that I had a greater interest in elite sport.  After having worked for a few years in Strength & Conditioning, I decided to go back to University to complete a Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree.  My interest in sport grew and my thirst for knowledge lead me to complete further studies with a Masters in Sports Physiotherapy at Latrobe University in Melbourne.  The degrees and my experience enabled me to apply for, and be accepted as an Australian Physiotherapy titled Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist.

During my years as a physiotherapist I have been lucky enough to work in elite sport, mainly cricket and AFL. Within the AFL I worked for several years for Werribee Football club in the VFL as both their Physiotherapist and Strength and Conditioning coach. I then worked for Hawthorn and Collingwood Football Clubs as their physio and Rehabilitation Manager. My role also included being the team runner which was great fun, most of the time, except when you had the coach’s, namely Peter Schwab at the Hawks and Mick Malthouse at the Pies, roaring at you on the phone on game day. A true highlight of my time with Collingwood was being on the field at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on ANZAC day, when 100,000 fans roar after the minute’s silence.

Over the years I have been involved with several cricket teams. The  first international tour was with the Australian Under 19 team to their World Cups tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa and tours to  Pakistan and around Australia. I then worked with the Australia ‘A’ team in their tour to Scotland and Ireland and several one-day series. It was a pleasure working with a few the greats of Australian cricket including Matthew Hayden, Jason Gillespie, Mike Hussey, and Alan Border as Coach. I have also worked for the Bangladesh National Cricket team on a couple of occasions, the first being in 1999 in the preparation and for the  duration of the ICC World Cup in England. This was a great experience both from a professional and cultural point of view as I  was the first Western person in the world to work for them both as a Physio and as their conditioning coach and I was lucky enough again to work with another cricket great Gordon Greenidge. It certainly was a challenge as most of the team weren’t fluent in English, fitness was not a high priority, and for me, learning how the Muslim culture works within the team environment was interesting and insightful! Thankfully, after a few hard months of training and winning a couple of games in the series, it led to them being established as a Test playing nation.  As part of the ICC World Cup, the team and I had the good fortune of going on the inside of Kensington Palace to meet the Queen and Duke. Not sure if she would remember be though if we ever bumped into each other again.

The pinnacle of most Sport Physio’s career is to work at the Australian Institute of Sport, where leaders in the fields of Sports Science and Sport Medicine are located.  In 2010 I was fortunate to secure a role at the AIS and moved to Canberra to work with their Football (soccer) program which included the Australian Joeys.  During my time with the AIS I was lucky enough to travel to many work with other sporting teams such as the Australian basketball development squad and athletes from many Olympic sports.  The AIS was a great place to work and provided me with the opportunity to continue working with elite athletes, travel the world and further enhance my skills.  One of the highlights was being involved in a research project which took me to Bolivia, South America, where I collaborated with other experts and Universities from around the world to investigate the impacts of Altitude training on individuals and teams.

I enjoyed my years of travelling and being involved in elite sport, however more recently, I share my knowledge and experience with my team as Physiotherapy Head of Department at RMC Duntroon.  From a Physio perspective, it has been one of the best places to work due to the variety and shear number of sporting injuries we look after.   Yes, surprisingly, the majority of the  ~ 400 injuries the Department treats each week are sports injuries!

With all of the above experience over time I have seen the importance of educating younger therapists for the future. So have established a Physiotherapy clinical placement at Duntroon with the University of Canberra and also been working with the International Cricket Council Academy (ICCA) in Dubai setting up a mentoring program for developing Physiotherapists in the UAE.

My family and I have loved our time in Canberra due to the easy-going lifestyle and range of activities.  When we arrived in Canberra we heard how people came for a contract and 30 years later were still here – well that’s us!  We were coming to Canberra for a few years and then returning home but now we can’t see ourselves returning to Melbourne.

As mentioned earlier, over the years, I’ve noticed a gap in the treatment of patients.  My aim with Up ‘n Running Physio is to spend quality time understanding my patients’ injury, their goals and then provide a thorough assessment, treatment and education plan to prevent further injury and give patients the best possible outcome.

I look forward to meeting you and working with you to get you back to your pre-injury self!

Rob