PETALING JAYA: Dr Craig Duncan has the unenviable task of changing how the national players think about high performance.
The Australian was announced as the High Performance and Sports Medicine head for the national team by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) yesterday.
Johor regent and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, who is overseeing the national team project, had said that he wanted someone to change the high-performance aspects of the team, with Duncan being the right fit for the role.
He was the Performance Intelligence Agency chief executive officer (CEO) for 15 years since 2009 and previously served as the Football Federation Australia (FFA) Head of Sports Science for four years from 2014 to 2018.
Duncan was also a senior lecturer in Exercise and Sports Science at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) since 2013.
Duncan, who will report for duty this month, holds a PhD in Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Sydney and a Master’s degree in Leadership from Deakin University. He has also been an advisor at Elite Performance Partners since 2021.
“With his extensive experience and expertise in human performance, Dr Craig’s role at FAM as the Head of High Performance and Sports Medicine will include overseeing high-performance matters such as physical fitness, recovery, sports science, nutrition, sports psychology and staff development,” said a statement from FAM.
“As one of Australia’s leading sports scientists, Dr Craig’s innovative and holistic approach to player management has helped high-performing teams maximise their performance and reduce injury rates among professional athletes.”
Duncan has worked with several Australian clubs like Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers, and also with the Australian national team when they won the Asian Cup in 2015.
He has also supervised the high-performance programme for Iran’s national team when they reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup.
“At FAM, Dr Craig envisions establishing a world-class high-performance framework for sports science and medicine to help Malaysia’s senior, junior, and women’s teams achieve consistent success while fostering a high-performance culture at all levels of Malaysian football,” added the statement.
“His mission is to integrate cutting-edge sports science and medical practices across all national teams and Malaysian football leagues, improving player performance, recovery and resilience through standardised protocols, educational programmes and advanced technology.”
With these plans, it is hoped that the national team will be prepared with the best physical and tactical readiness, alongside prioritising high-performance aspects in Malaysian football.
Besides Duncan, the other key announcements made by the FAM are Malaysia coach Peter Cklamovski, Under-23 coach Nafuzi Zain and CEO Rob Friend.
