Over the last couple of years, I've had the opportunity to spend more time coaching players in a true one-on-one environment. After decades of programming for teams, it was refreshing to work with individual athletes where every exercise, every set, and every progression could be tailored specifically to their needs.

It also gave me the chance to revisit an idea that had been sitting in the back of my mind for almost a decade.

Where It Started

I was first introduced to the French Contrast Method during an off-season visit to France. We spent time with the staff at Stade Français and were fortunate enough to visit the French National Rugby Center at Marcoussis, where we discussed the system with their head strength and conditioning coach.

I thought the concept was fascinating.

The idea of exploiting post-activation performance enhancement by sequencing heavy strength work with explosive movements made complete physiological sense. My concern wasn't whether it worked — it clearly did. My concern was whether it could be implemented efficiently in a high-performance rugby environment where you might have forty players, limited equipment, and less than an hour to train.

At the time, I filed it away as something probably better suited to individual athletes than to team training. Years later, the opportunity finally arrived. Working individually with several senior Crusaders and Canterbury players allowed me to revisit the concept, strip it back to its essential principles, and rebuild it into something that better suited my own coaching philosophy.

Bruce Lee famously said:

Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.— Bruce Lee

That became the blueprint.

Rather than simply copying the French Contrast Method, I combined its underlying physiological principles with the conjugate philosophy I had learned from Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell. The result became what I now call the Neural Contrast Complex.

Building the Complex

The original French Contrast sequence consists of four exercises designed to maximize neural stimulation through contrasting loading patterns. My version follows a similar structure but with several important modifications.

1A – Maximal Strength

The first exercise is always a maximal effort compound lift, typically:

• Box Squat

• Front Squat

• Trap Bar Deadlift

• Conventional Deadlift

The objective is simple: recruit the highest threshold motor units possible and create the neural stimulus for everything that follows.

1B – Plyometric Progression

Instead of using the same plyometric style every session, I progress plyometric stress over a three-week block.

Week 1 – Preparatory (low-level jumps)

• Squat Jumps

• Countermovement Jumps

• Repeated In-Place Hops

Week 2 – Developmental (moderate intensity)

• Broad Jump into Box Jump

• Multiple Broad Jumps

• Lateral Bound Variations

Week 3 – Shock (high neural demand)

• Depth Jumps

• Hurdle Hops

• Reactive Drop Jumps

The plyometric intensity rises as the repetition volume falls.

1C – Speed Strength / Strength Speed

The third exercise introduces an explosive loaded movement. Depending on the athlete, this might be:

• Hang Clean Pull

• Power Clean

• Split Snatch

• Jump Shrug

• High Pull

This is where we continue to exploit the potentiation created by the heavy lift while expressing force at much higher velocities.

1D – Reactive Plyometric or Medicine Ball Throw

The final movement finishes the complex with another explosive action, which may include:

• Depth Jumps

• Bounding

• Hurdle hops or jumps

• Medicine ball throws

• Rotational throws

The objective is to complete the complex with optimal movement quality while the nervous system remains highly activated.

Matching the Plyometric to the Load

One of the biggest changes I made was aligning plyometric intensity with the loading scheme. The progression is straightforward:

As the repetitions decrease, the intensity increases. This keeps the quality of every jump high while reducing unnecessary fatigue.

Too often, coaches perform high-intensity shock plyometrics for excessive repetitions. Once the contacts lose quality, the purpose of the exercise disappears.

Neural training is about intent — not exhaustion.

Plyometric, Jump, and Medicine Ball Programming Progressions

Why It Works for Rugby

Rugby players need to be able to produce high forces quickly. They need maximal strength. They need explosive power. They need reactive ability. Most importantly, they need to express those qualities while fresh enough to move fast.

The Neural Contrast Complex enables all those qualities to be trained within a single integrated sequence. Rather than separating maximal strength, Olympic lifting, plyometrics, and reactive work into isolated training blocks, they complement one another inside a single complex:

• The heavy lift potentiates the jump.

• The jump potentiates the Olympic lift.

• The Olympic lift potentiates the final reactive movement.

Every exercise prepares the athlete for the next one.

A Recent Example

Below is a recent Week Two session from our Crusaders Global Academy program.

Week Two — 4 Sets × 4 Repetitions

Watch the Week Two complex on YouTube

Simple. Efficient. Highly neural. Exactly what we're looking for.

I'm a big believer that coaching isn't about collecting methods. It's about understanding principles.

The French Contrast Method wasn't something I wanted to copy. It was something I wanted to learn from. The same applies to the conjugate system, Olympic lifting, velocity-based training, triphasic training, or any other methodology. Every system has value. Every system also has limitations.

Good coaches don't become disciples of methods. They become students of principles. Take the best ideas you can find, test them relentlessly, adapt them to your athletes, and make them your own. Because at the end of the day, athletes don't care what system you're using. They care whether it makes them better.

Foundational Three-Week Off Season Lower Body Training Block

The following example preserves the original loading records. Loads are shown exactly as recorded by the coach; use them as a structural example, not as universal prescriptions.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Neural Contrast Complexes Options

1a: Back Squat 1b: Tuck Jumps 1c: Banded Resisted 1d: Band Assisted Vertical Jumps

1b: Box Jumps Jump Squats 1d: Knees to Feet

1b: Depth Jumps 1d: Hurdle Jumps

1a: Zercher Squat 1b: Band Assisted Broad Jumps 1c: Banded Box Squat 1d: In Place Hops

1b: Broad Jump Speed Strength 25%/50% 1d: Hops for Distance

1b: Depth into Hurdle Jump Strength Speed 65%/25% 1d: Box Hops

Accelerative Strength 50%/50%

1a: Box Squat 1b: Seated Box Jumps 1c: Hang Power Clean 1d: Band Assisted Split Jumps

1b: Broad Jump into Box Jump 1d: Knees to One Foot

1b: Depth Jumps into Broad Jump 1d: Split Landing Box Jump

1a: Banded Box Squat 1b: Seated to Box Jump 1c: Speed Strength/Strength Speed 1d: 10m Assisted Sprint

Speed Strength 25%/50% 1b: Hurdle Jump to Box PC from Hip 1d: 10m Resisted Sprint

Strength Speed 60%/25% 1b: Depth Jump P C from Hang Below Knee 1d: 10m Sprint

Accelerative Strength 50%/50% P C Floor

1a: Deadlift 1b: Tuck Jumps 1c: DB Hang Clean 1d: Band Assisted Broad Jumps

1b: Repeat Hurdle Jumps 1d: Band Resisted Broad Jumps

1b: Hurdle Jump + Sprint 1d: Depth Jump to Broad Jump

1a: Band Box Squats 1b: Squat Jumps 1c: PC from Hip 1d: Stair Jumps

Speed/Strength

Strength/Speed 1b: Hurdle Jump to Broad Jump 1c: P C from Hang Below Knee 1d: Seated Box Jumps

Accelerative Strength 1b: Knees to Feet to Box 1c: P C Floor 1d: Depth Jump to Broad Jump

1a: Prowler Push 1b: Repeat Broad Jumps 1c: Split Power Snatch 1d: Band Assisted Broad Jumps

Or 1b: Knees to Feet Jumps Or 1d: Standing Triple Jump

1a: Deadlift to Broad Jump 1c: Jump Split Squats

1b: Depth Jump to Broad Jump 1d: Knees to Feet to Hurdle Jump

1a: Split Squat 1b: Band Assisted Split Jumps 1c: Isometric Split Squat Pull 1d: Borzov Hops

1b: Single Leg RDL to Hop 1c: Flywheel Split Squat 1d: Bounds

1b: Repeat Hurdle Hop 1c: Split Power Snatch from Blocks 1d: Single Leg Depth Jump

to Split Landing

1a: Prowler Push 1b: Reverse Lunge into Hop 1c: Jump Split Squats 1d: Pogos

1b: Repeat Single Leg Bounds 1d: Band Resisted Hop

1b: Single Leg Depth Jump 1d: 10m Sprint

1a: Bulgarian Sprinters 1b: Hurdle Hops 1c: Banded Low Box Step Ups 1d: Bench Blasts

Squat (RFESS) 1b: Single Leg Depth Jump

to Split Landing 1d: Borzov Hop 1b: Single Leg Depth Jump

to Box Hop 1d: Single Leg Complex

1a: Split Squat 1b: In Place Hops 1c: Hang Split Power Snatch or Clean 1d: Low Box Speed Hops

1b: Knees to One Foot Jump 1d: Standing Triple Jump

1b: Hurdle Hops 1d: Single Leg Depth Jump to hop

1a: Fly Wheel Squat 1b: Repeat Squat Jumps 1c: Prowler Push 1d: MB Scoop Toss

1b: Seated Box Jumps 1d: MB Forward Throw

1b: Depth Jump 1d: MB Throw + Sprint