As a child, Tandia Wood dreamed of a life on stage, clad in tutus and pointe shoes, that pushed her body to the limit amid the pain and euphoria of ballet.
Important points:
- Tandia Woods, who was born in Toowoomba, dreamed of being a ballerina, but lifting weights led her to a dream job
- She leverages her fitness and science background in her role as the strength coaching assistant for the Brisbane Broncos women’s team
- The team has won three major NRLW finals in a row
As an adult, Wood still pushes her body to its limits but has swapped the ballet bar for the weight lifting bar and works with some of Australia’s best female athletes.
Wood, 23, is the assistant to the strength coach for the Brisbane Broncos women’s rugby league team, which made its third consecutive NRLW debut last month.
The Toowoomba-born weightlifter said she discovered her love for working with female athletes after completing an internship with the Brisbane Broncos NRL team in 2018.
“They asked me to stay and work at the NRLW in their inaugural year and that was just the most incredible experience,” said Wood.
“Up until that point I had never worked with female athletes, so it was completely different for me.
“They want to know exactly what they are doing and why, and I think that’s great.”
Wood now lives in Brisbane and works with the team at the gym three days a week. He prepares the fitness program.
“We had a pretty short preseason and season leading up to this year. The girls worked out three to four times a week and were in the gym two or three of those days,” she said.
Ballet pirouettes on foot pivot points
The rugby league wasn’t the path Wood envisioned.
“When I was younger I thought I was going to be a ballet dancer for a living. That’s what I wanted to do,” said Wood.
“Then I decided to do a little sailing and go to university and study sports and sports science.”
According to Wood, using science to prepare players had a huge impact on their performance.
She said increased scientific research meant that strength and conditioning training could be tailored to prepare athletes for specific sports.
“For the NRLW girls, we literally work with them in the gym to make them strong and appropriate for their field,” she said.
Wood said she hopes to continue working at the NRLW next year after contributing to the Broncos’ third premiere.
“I think a lot of that credit goes to Kelvin Wright, the head coach,” she said.
“He created such an excellent organization, from selecting the players on the team to making sure they work so well together, to selecting the staff.”
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