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West Coast Eagles go FIFO with Mineral Resources

COVID-19 is changing everything. And this time, we thought we’d make a change for the better, because now more than ever, is a time to think different, work different, be different – and at MinRes, we pride ourselves on that.

This is our second year working with the West Coast Eagles, as major partners. This year, the footy season has never looked so different. With the AFL season suspended and their world being turned upside down, we’ve engaged the club’s high performance team to work with us on site.

Specifically, they will be transferring their team leadership and high performance experience to mine life – offering 1:1 motivation and advice on personal health, nutrition and wellbeing.

The program launched this week with Assistant Coaches Jaymie Graham and Nathan van Berlo, together with Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach Anthony Jones, being deployed on FIFO shifts to several of our mine sites.

With the onset of the pandemic, there’s been a difficult transition period for everyone while we do everything possible to minimise the risk of the spread of COVID-19 but it has brought about a lot of change on site – and these changes have not been easy. We’re thankful that the State government has provided some exemptions to resource sector workers to keep the mining industry operating through these challenging times, but we need to do our part and fully comply with all government restrictions.

So life on site isn’t what it was as we have also had to shut down our gyms, our bars, our dining facilities, only providing take-away meals, and limiting group gatherings as well.  We’re very conscious of the impact that some of these changes are having on our people, who are already away from their homes and families and we looked at ways we that could provide extra support.

We’re really pleased to have worked with the West Coast Eagles and, very quickly, been able to mobilise their high performance team to our operations to bring their experience to mine life and support our crews during this unprecedented time.

Nathan van Berlo, Assistant Coach West Coast Eagles, hits the ground running at Mt Marion

Nathan van Berlo, the former Adelaide Crows Captain, pictured, is also extremely grateful to have the opportunity, after being temporarily stood down from their roles due to the COVID-19 crisis and commented that the partnership between Mineral Resources and West Coast has gone to another level.

After arriving at the Mt Marion mine site yesterday, Nathan said he would be helping workers with their physical and mental health and is also thinking there could be some transferable skills he could take away with him.

“You can certainly see the challenges out here for the workers. We’re looking to kick some goals through our contribution on site, and hope our experience will benefit Mineral Resources staff who have had their work and personal lives challenged by COVID-19,” he said.

Paul Brown, MRL Executive General Manager – Mining Services is also really excited that we’ve been able to employ two teams of three coaches and mobilise them to our mine sites, specifically in the areas of motivation, team leadership and to provide advice on personal health, nutrition and wellbeing to our people and site leadership teams.

As Paul says, “The past few weeks have been challenging but if there’s one thing we’re good at, it is rising to a challenge. We’re all about doing it differently and, right now, our different thinking and ability to act quickly means we’ve got some of the best from the West Coast Eagles working for us.”