Hey Aussies, is Brett Stewart the rugby star a pure white guy? I got this article off of Track and Field News.
Quick enough for the Olympics
Email Print Normal font Large font February 4, 2007
NOT only is Brett Stewart the fastest man in the NRL, the Manly fullback is quick enough to run for Australia at the Beijing Olympics.
That's the opinion of Sea Eagles sprint coach Clayton Kearney, who clocked Stewart at 6.2 seconds over 60 metres at a recent speed session.
Kearney is well qualified to judge Stewart's credentials, having won many Australian titles, posted a hand-clocked time of less than 10 seconds and raced against people such as Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie during a distinguished track career.
Kearney believes that, without any track-specific training, Stewart could today post a hand-clocked time of 10.6 seconds over 100 metres - just 0.5 seconds short of what's required to make the national team.
"He'd be a strong contender for the Olympics," Kearney said. "When you look at someone like [the three-time national 100m champion] Josh Ross, I reckon Brett would match it with him. Brett has as much talent as Henry Mitchell, who I train and will run in the Telstra A-series.
"He could do it. He has speed to burn. He could definitely make it as a track athlete."
Stewart predicted there would be little between himself and fellow NRL speedsters such as Rhys Wesser, Brent Tate, Eric Grothe and Brett Morris in a match race.
"I don't think there's anyone out there that would beat anyone by a massive distance over 100m," he said.
Kearney said Stewart was faster than he was last season, when he crossed for 21 tries in as many games.
"He's two or three metres quicker than he was last year," Kearney said.
"He's still developing, he's still on the way up as far as speed. He's actually three or four kilograms heavier than he was last year, which is a nice thing when you're faster."
Quick enough for the Olympics
Email Print Normal font Large font February 4, 2007
NOT only is Brett Stewart the fastest man in the NRL, the Manly fullback is quick enough to run for Australia at the Beijing Olympics.
That's the opinion of Sea Eagles sprint coach Clayton Kearney, who clocked Stewart at 6.2 seconds over 60 metres at a recent speed session.
Kearney is well qualified to judge Stewart's credentials, having won many Australian titles, posted a hand-clocked time of less than 10 seconds and raced against people such as Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie during a distinguished track career.
Kearney believes that, without any track-specific training, Stewart could today post a hand-clocked time of 10.6 seconds over 100 metres - just 0.5 seconds short of what's required to make the national team.
"He'd be a strong contender for the Olympics," Kearney said. "When you look at someone like [the three-time national 100m champion] Josh Ross, I reckon Brett would match it with him. Brett has as much talent as Henry Mitchell, who I train and will run in the Telstra A-series.
"He could do it. He has speed to burn. He could definitely make it as a track athlete."
Stewart predicted there would be little between himself and fellow NRL speedsters such as Rhys Wesser, Brent Tate, Eric Grothe and Brett Morris in a match race.
"I don't think there's anyone out there that would beat anyone by a massive distance over 100m," he said.
Kearney said Stewart was faster than he was last season, when he crossed for 21 tries in as many games.
"He's two or three metres quicker than he was last year," Kearney said.
"He's still developing, he's still on the way up as far as speed. He's actually three or four kilograms heavier than he was last year, which is a nice thing when you're faster."
