Matt is the Head of Athletic Performance at Leicester Tigers, a former professional rugby player, and the founder of High Performance Puzzle. Having worked across both rugby union and rugby league, including Leicester Tigers and Catalan Dragons, Matt brings a rare combination of playing experience, coaching insight, leadership responsibility, and high-performance strategy.

In this episode, Richard and Matt explore the “invisible work” that sits behind successful performance environments. Not the gym programme. Not the GPS report. Not the testing data. But the conversations, decisions, relationships, standards, and judgement calls that determine whether the physical work actually lands.

They discuss why data needs context, how performance teams can align with coaches under pressure, what good decision-making looks like when information is incomplete, and why trust remains one of the most important currencies in elite sport.

For sports science, S&C, medical, coaching, and performance staff working in elite environments, this episode is a valuable reminder that high performance is not built by data alone. It is built through people, relationships, standards, and the ability to make good decisions when the pressure is on.

In this episode you will learn

• Why the work that drives performance often sits outside the formal programme, session plan, or data report
• How conversations between coaches, medical staff, S&C, sports science, and players provide vital context
• What good alignment looks like in a high-performance environment
• How to manage differing opinions between technical and performance departments
• Why frameworks are essential when emotions and pressure start to influence decision-making
• How to make better decisions when you do not have the complete picture
• Why trust between the head coach, medical team, and performance staff is critical
• How to use data without becoming over-reliant on it
• Why standards often slip in small ways before they show up in performance outcomes
• How relationships can make or break the effectiveness of even the best performance systems
• Why gut feel still matters, provided it is shaped by experience and reflection
• How elite practitioners can reflect more effectively on their own decisions and behaviours
• Why discipline is a habit, not just a personal trait
• What Matt has learned from working across rugby union and rugby league
• Why the best players want honest feedback when standards start to slip

About Matt Parr
Matt Parr is Head of Athletic Performance at Leicester Tigers and founder of High Performance Puzzle.

Before moving into strength and conditioning, Matt spent around 14 to 15 years as a professional rugby player, representing clubs including Sale Sharks, Saracens, London Irish, and Leicester Tigers. His transition into performance coaching began at Leicester Tigers, where he initially combined a player-coach role with S&C responsibilities before moving fully into the performance department.

Matt has since built extensive experience across both rugby union and rugby league. After progressing through the performance setup at Leicester Tigers, he joined Catalan Dragons as Head of Performance, before returning to Leicester as Head of Athletic Performance.

Alongside his role in professional rugby, Matt has launched High Performance Puzzle, a consultancy focused on high-performance strategy, systems, leadership, and integration.

FREE 7d SCIENCE FOR SPORT ACADEMY TRIAL

SIGN UP NOW: https://bit.ly/SFSepisode241

​ Learn Quicker & More Effectively
​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery
​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In
​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese
​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More
​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance
​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes
​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research

Richard Graves is joined by Brendan Fahrner, formerly Head of Sports Science at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, and previously a long-serving performance staff member at Richmond Football Club during one of the most successful periods in AFL history.

Across a career spanning AFL and NRL, Brendan has worked inside premiership-winning programs, navigated the evolution of GPS and performance analytics, and seen firsthand how elite sport has shifted from data accumulation to data translation.

In this conversation, he strips back the noise around technology and shares why soft skills, trust, and clarity of message ultimately drive performance outcomes. From simplifying GPS dashboards to building credibility with senior coaches, Brendan offers a grounded, practical perspective on what actually moves the needle in team sport.

He also speaks candidly about practitioner burnout, self-worth, and why sustainability in high performance careers is just as important as physical robustness in athletes.

This episode will resonate with sports scientists, S&C coaches, performance managers and aspiring practitioners looking to build impact in elite environments.

In this episode you will learn

• Why high performance is more about relationships than periodisation
• How to build trust quickly when entering a new club environment
• The importance of simplifying data for coaches and athletes
• How to align performance metrics with a coach’s game model
• Why most GPS reports contain too much irrelevant data
• How to identify the few variables that truly influence coach perception
• Practical strategies for athlete-centric monitoring in squad settings
• The crossover principles between AFL and NRL performance environments
• How to translate analytics into language players understand
• Why self-care and professional boundaries matter in elite sport
• The importance of valuing yourself as a practitioner

About Brendan Fahrner
Brendan Fahrner is a high performance practitioner with extensive experience in elite Australian sport.
He began his career in the early adoption phase of GPS in the AFL, working with Richmond and later Geelong during a period of sustained premiership success. He spent the majority of his career at Richmond Football Club, contributing to three premiership titles and multiple finals campaigns.
Most recently, Brendan worked in the NRL with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, applying performance principles across codes and leading athlete monitoring and sports science integration within rugby league.
He has developed a strong reputation for simplifying complex performance data, building trust with athletes and coaches, and creating athlete-centred systems in high-pressure team environments.

FREE 7d SCIENCE FOR SPORT ACADEMY TRIAL

SIGN UP NOW: https://bit.ly/SFSepisode241

​ Learn Quicker & More Effectively
​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery
​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In
​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese
​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More
​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance
​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes
​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research