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Former Midfielder Tom Pondeljak Named Fittest Ever Player In The A-league

Even though the ex-victory star used to smoke a few cigarettes after the game - by Alex Pierotti
  • 06 Feb 2020

Former Mariners, Victory and Glory midfielder Tom Pondeljak is the fittest A-league player ever, according to the FFA's Head of Sport Science and High Performance, Andrew Clark.

WATCH: How To Smash Your Next Running Goal

Clark, who also had a stint in the Australian top flight league, joined the Fox Football Podcast with Daniel Garb and Simon Hill, where he explained that Pondeljak possessed an aerobic capacity like no other. And he'd even hit the durries straight after. 

“I worked with Tom Pondeljak,” Clark told the hosts. 

“This guy sat with a bunger (cigarette) in his mouth after training and after games."

According to the former defender, Pondeljak actually had a deformity that ended up helping excel on the paddock.

“Back in those days they were a bit more like guinea pigs as an experiment, but this guy could run. I could not make him breathe or tire him out. We found out later that he actually had an oversized heart.”

“Tommy could run and anyone that played with him would say that he could just run and run and run and run. It was just a gift that he had. It’s a different type of fitness and I know that’s a really left-of-field person to pick,” Clark added.

“The Pharlap of Australian football,” Garb added.

When it comes to the current crop of players, there's one Sydney FC defender who draws comparison to a premier league workhorse. 

“You look at (Andy) Robertson for Liverpool and it’s a similar kind of beast to Rhyan Grant. The high intensity efforts just keep on going and going," Clark continued. 

“Fitness comes in lots of different things. Some people have the ability to accelerate a lot of times while some people have the ability to do a lot of high speed metres — it depends on the makeup of the player and whether they’re a fast-twitch or a slow-twitch type player.

“Brad Smith gets through a ridiculous amount of metres in a game. Mathew Leckie, he can churn out high-speed metres like crazy. There’s lots a of different beasts, (James) Jeggo is fit too, he can run. Easy to work with.”

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Alex Pierotti
Alex Pierotti
Alex Pierotti is the Digital Content Editor for Men's Health Australia, with experience reporting on health, fitness and sport. With a Journalism degree from UNSW under his belt, he got his start working in TV, working on the live broadcast of the Intrust Super Shute Shield on 7TWO before making the switch to print and digital at Pacific Magazines.

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