Australian football
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FORMER Demons basketball captain-coach Andrew Cullen has emerged from the sporting wilderness and "filled a void" in his life by joining the Griffith Swans as head of fitness.
It is Cullen's first official role with a local sporting club since his controversial 26-week suspension for an on-court brawl in June last year, which led to the Demons' mid-season withdrawal from the State League and the team's eventual collapse.
"How that all unfolded, it left a void in my life. It was unfinished business for me," he said.
"Now this is going to fill that hole.
"I'm not here for beer and skittles, I'm giving this my 100 per cent commitment and I'm looking forward to getting back into the club environment."
Cullen's appointment marks the first time in recent memory the Swans have appointed a fitness coach for an entire campaign, rather than just a pre- season, president Jeff Harris said. The hope is the part-time personal trainer can transform the team into one that can go harder for longer following a number of costly fadeouts and concentration lapses in 2012.
"We lost a couple of critical games last year by only a few points," Harris said.
"Having a fitness coach could be the difference for us.
"The boys are pretty close to the mark and hopefully this can help them improve that extra 10 per cent.
"We want a fast, play-on style of footy this year, so we need to increase our foot speed and Andrew has the background and the experience to help us do it."
Cullen is not shying away from the task and is setting the bar high for the Swans this year.
He sees finals football as a minimum and believes if everything comes together, the red and whites have the ability to give the flag a good shake.
"I do think there's a lot of good talent there, and especially a lot of youngsters," he said.
"If you can harness it and get everyone on the right page, they're not far off from being that team that can become consistent flag contenders."
But he stresses his job is not just an on-field one.
"There's an opportunity to take this club on track as a whole and help make changes.
"I'd love to think I can have a positive influence on the coaching staff and the culture as a whole," Cullen said.
"Hopefully I can go in there, tweak a few ideas, change a few attitudes and bring the club closer together.
"I've got a few years on (coach) Guy Orton, so maybe I can upspeed him on some of the experiences I've had, good and bad."
Cullen takes his first official pre-season session next week, but said he will spare the Swans a post-Christmas nightmare and build fitness levels gradually.
"I used to be a punish-until-you-bleed kind of trainer, but that's probably the old-school way of doing things," he said.