ALTHOUGH all games are won on the field, the coaching staff behind them has a big hand to play.

The Absolute Enterprises Mackay Cutters high-performance unit is made up of strength and conditioning specialists, somebody who looks after the players' mind frame, first aid officers/strappers, an assistant coach and a team manager.

Tony Gambie is the team manager of the side and said it was a well put together squad.

"With David (Simpson - head coach) everyone works together," he said.

"It's one for all, all for one, it's a very good setup."

Gambie said all the jobs within the high-performance squad were very important.

"The strength side of things, you need, to play this game these days," he said.

"Now with just eight interchanges, it's all changed, a lot of our big blokes have lost a lot of weight to play more minutes.

"If you get that, then you get more speed and agility out of the players."

Scott Kennedy looks after the mental side of things for the Mackay team.

Gambie said this was an important role in sport now.

"Scott has been really good," he said.

"The boys respond to him pretty good and I think a lot of them are getting a lot out of it, which is good."

Brad Swifte is a strength and conditioning coach with the Cutters - a very important role for the club.

"Myself and Matt (Sanders) come down every Monday and help the boys out with their rehab, setting up massages and we put the guys who didn't play that weekend through a workout," he said.

"The next training session we put them through a workout; it just depends on the schedule for the week."

Sanders said it was important to tailor a program to each individual player.

"Every athlete is each to their own," he said.

"You're not trying to build the same player, they're all going to be individuals, so that's what a lot of our time goes into."

Sanders said the pre-season had been mostly about building strength and fitness.

"Now that it's coming into the season, we will head more into the maintenance phase, so now is the more challenging part."

Both Swifte and Sanders said there was a great vibe throughout the club this season. "It's a fresh start for all of us," Sanders said.