Dean Benton

Speed coach and performance director to national rugby federations and professional clubs.

Dean works at both ends of the science and coaching spectrum, and has coached at both ends of sport, from development athletes to the elite. Along the way he has worked as a coach, a performance director and a performance consultant.

His club work includes the Brisbane Broncos, Adelaide Crows, Leicester Tigers, Brumbies Rugby, Racing Club Narbonne Méditerranée, Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Storm. With national federations he has worked for the Fédération Française de Rugby, Japan Rugby, England Rugby, the Unión Argentina de Rugby and Rugby Australia. In Olympic sport he has worked with the Australian Institute of Sport, the Queensland Academy of Sport and Athletics Australia.

His specialty is running: speed as it applies to team sports. That covers analysing how an athlete runs, interpreting what the analysis shows, and turning it into coaching.

“Thirty years ago I went looking for experts to learn from on speed and power development, and I found some brilliant professionals to help me. Today the technology is getting ahead of coaches' ability to apply it. Sport science and technology are not the same thing. Working with Swift Performance on how DynaSled can enhance acceleration and power is something that excites me.”