Diet plays a significant part in building the strength and stamina required to stay on top of your game for a full 80 minutes of rugby league. Just ask Chloe McLeod and Jess Spendlove – two sports dietitians specialising in performance nutrition who work with a range of top sports teams including the Parramatta Eels and Cronulla Sharks. Their roles cover every aspect of eating, from anthropometric assessment to nutrition education, menu planning to budgeting.
We chatted to the pair – who run the Health and Performance Collective – to find out exactly what fuels these elite players and their performance.
What’s a typical day on a plate for an NRL player?
Although each player varies when it comes to food preferences and requirements, there are some dietary staples for peak performance.
Jess and Chloe explain a typical training day sees their athletes eat a range of healthy meals and snacks to hit their nutritional needs.
Breakfast
Players typically start the day with a combination of eggs, avocado and toast, with a coffee.
Snacks
Throughout morning training players consume protein shakes, bircher muesli, fruit salad and yoghurt, or cheese and tomato crackers.
Lunch
The club takes care of catering, which usually involves dishes combing protein and carbs like chicken, potato and salad.
Snacks
Afternoon snacks include tuna and rice or sushi.
Dinner
The players cook at home come dinner time, but the recommended meals often include salmon, veggies and rice. Portion size is dependent on what their training schedule is like the next day.
RELATED: Training Secrets Of The NRL
What do NRL players eat before and after a game?
The focus for Jess and Chloe is, “ensuring all players are adequately fuelled before a game with enough energy to perform.”
Topping up glycogen stores in the muscles and liver are critical for endurance, so players often consume easily digestible, carb-rich snacks like fruit, lollies and gels. Jess and Chloe say it’s also important to avoid high fat foods pre-game. Sports Dietitians Australia say this is because these are likely to cause digestive discomfort which could hamper output.
Combating dehydration is also essential for physical and mental performance, so players drink electrolyte-rich sport drinks.
After a game, players usually have a protein drink and a burger, Chloe and Jess say. Research suggests protein consumption following exercise helps to promote muscle gains and minimise losses.
Do dietary requirements change though out the season?
Chloe and Jess say there are “much higher energy requirements in pre season due to heavier training load.”
“In season is about maintaining body composition whilst optimising performance,” they continue. “Off season is break time, however all players have body composition goals to come back to.”
