Consider me a frustrated rugby player.

I played both codes throughout my childhood to a relatively high standard around the local area. But as soon as there was a choice to be made between playing on a Sunday morning and going to Welly on a Saturday night, there was only ever going to be one winner.

Despite being convinced I could still do it, cold Sunday mornings were spent in bed nursing a hangover rather than on a rugby pitch.

That was nine years ago and I haven’t picked up a rugby ball since, so don’t ask me what was going through my head when I raised the idea to Lee Radford over the off-season.

“I love it”, Radford said as he jumped on an idea I had expected to be dismissed and from there it gathered pace.

Numerous conversations with head of high performance Paul Hatton followed as he took joy in plotting out a gruelling couple of days for me, but it was only the night before I was due to report to training when I had the thought: ‘What am I doing?’

I wouldn’t say I was a fit man, but I do try and get to the gym as often as I can be bothered to do so.

I’ve never willingly put myself through anything as gruelling as what I experienced after spending two days in the Black and Whites’ camp, though.

It was hellish, it was punishing, but as I slumped up against a Country Park tree with the slight but familiar flavour of vomit in my mouth on Thursday morning, I knew I had just been given a taste of what these athletes go through to prepare themselves for a 29-game Super League season.

I’d say I’m more than familiar with the club’s County Road training ground and the people in it, having travelled there for numerous press conferences in my time as Hull FC reporter.

But to say I was sheepish when I walked through the door in my shorts would be an understatement. I had no idea what I was in for, having been told to report to the club’s County Road training ground at 8am to begin training, but the short conversations I had with Adam Swift and Marc Sneyd suggested I would be in for a tough day.

With the forwards travelling to St Mary’s College to go through a skills session on a 4G pitch, I was informed I would be spending the morning with Hull’s backs.

But before we got going there would be a warm-up. I was given a roller and a hockey ball and I spent the next 15 minutes on the floor stretching out my back and chest, before picking an elasticated tube to flex the shoulders.

I was then told that on this particular morning I would be partnered with Albert Kelly and Charlie Graham in the gym for a one rep max session in the gym.

It was chest press first, something I’d like to think I know my way around. Five reps of 45 kilograms? No problem. 65 kg? Bring it on.

It was when Kelly and Graham stacked the bar up to 85kg that I began to struggle. After the pair of them smashed out five reps each with relative ease, I sat down and with my elbows wobbling, I just about got over the line.

(Image: Hull FC)

“We’ll see”, I replied when asked if I was alright with the weight being cranked up to 95kg. I managed to push out two, before matching Kelly’s effort in the final set with one rep of 100kg.

“You get some people who are good in the gym, but I don’t lift big,” Kelly told me, but on a day I needed all the confidence I could get, I was willing to take a win whichever way it came.

Bench pull was next on Kelly and Graham’s schedules, working the back. After five sets the most I could manage was 80kg, which I’m proud to say was also what Kelly and Graham were lifting. So far so good, I thought.

Some split kneel single arm shoulder press with a chain was next, which was no problem. But, weighted chin ups were after that and with my weight currently around the 18.5 stone mark, I wasn’t about to embarrass myself by trying and failing to lift my own bodyweight.

“You don’t have to have it weighted”, I was told only to be pointed in the direction of a green resistance band to help me up, after scoffing at the suggestion that I could do regular chin ups.

(Image: Hull FC)

A short circuit of decline chest press, incline bench pull and biceps curls brought my morning session to an end.

(Image: Hull FC)

As I’m not a professional rugby player, it came as little surprise to me to be given the rest of the morning off, rather than going through a backs skills session with the ball. As such, I spent the rest of the morning playing pool with Kelly. Needless to say he beat me on a couple of occasions.

Forwards and backs came together for a lunch of chicken breast, new potatoes and vegetables, before we travelled to the University of Hull pitches to begin the afternoon session.

(Image: Hull FC)

“He handles the ball better than you, Tag”, Radford laughed after I got involved in a couple of ball-work drills, but it’s safe to say I bowed out when the forwards went through a couple of plays they have been working on so far in pre-season.

Alas, it was time for the bit I had been dreading: running. As you can tell by the pictures accompanying this article, I’m not exactly built for running, so you can imagine my thoughts when I saw the cones lined up on the plastic pitch.

One cone was on the 20m line, with another on the 50m line. On the whistle, me and the team were asked to run to the 20m cone three times, before running at three-quarter pace to the 50m cone and back. It was three 220m runs, each in about 50 seconds, slower for me obviously, with around a 30 second rest in between each rep. Or in other words, it was my worst nightmare.

When the first set of running was over, I retired to a spinning bike, while the rest of the team got involved in more skill exercises.

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“Will, in the next set do you mind upping the tempo?” Hatton joked. Hilarious.

The team returned for a second set before I had even caught my breath from the first and before you know it a third and final set was upon me.

This time, though, I could sense the players were tired and as Connor Wynne limped over I was feeling confident again.

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He may have had some mitigating circumstances as he hobbled along, but it’s fair to say I’ll never let the young full-back forget that in the final set I beat him twice, with the latter requiring a sprint finish that came out of absolutely nowhere.

Day one was completed and I had surprised myself, but I was still feeling the effects of it when I received a Whatsapp message, telling me to meet at the Humber Bridge Car Park on Thursday morning at 8am. I knew what was coming.

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Understandably so, I was timid once more when I pulled up and the reactions of the some of the players made it clear that I was in for a challenging morning.

We made our way into Country Park and down the steps to the side of the flooded pond. It wasn’t looking good.

While myself and the players were warming up, the conditioning staff were marking out a 650m track around the pond that would see the players tested to the absolute limit. We were split into teams, based on running ability and I was tacking onto the back of the lower group, which was due to go out first onto the circuit.

Starting with a sprint up and down the steps, I trailed behind as the forwards dashed down the dirt track before rounding back on themselves and heading up and down the steps again.

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With tiredness kicking in already and in a hurry to get it over with, it was here where I cut a corner. Turning around and heading back down the stairs three steps before the top.

“I saw that, Will! Don’t be cheating!” shouted Josh Griffin back down the stairs at me, before declaring it to the group.

“If you want to cut corners like that, Will, you can go report on Hull KR,” Scott Taylor added.

I knew I was struggling when I pulled out of the third run around, much to the delight of video analyst Richard Peaks, who had just won his bet with Radford about when I’d break.

I stepped back in for the fourth run and this was by far my best, pulling past the struggling Bureta Faraimo, who admittedly was not long off the plane from Jacksonville after representing the USA, and I was hot on the tail of Andre Savelio.

(Image: Hull FC)

Forgetting I still had to climb the steps again, I overtook him and burst into the clearance where the coaches and players were gathered, to a brilliant reception, but as I hit the bottom step my momentum came to a shuddering halt and I was helpless as the back-rower coasted past me to the finish.

After another rest, I stepped back in for the penultimate run, there would no catching the professionals, this time, though, as my breakfast threatened to make another appearance.

It was the intensity that killed me, steps and a 650m run at a three-quarter pace was tough going, but it was the lack of a proper rest that killed me off.

(Image: Hull FC)

I wasn’t expected to do it all, but I felt like I had won the respect of the squad, as a number came over and congratulated me for the effort I had visibly put into the session.

I’ll still be feeling the effects of my time with the Black and Whites for a few more days yet, but the squad will be heading to Brantingham today (Saturday) for some gruelling hill running, before doing it all again next week.

“Credit where credit is due, you pulled up short a couple of times on the steps that I noticed, that’s something we’d pull you up on if you were a player,” Radford said.

“But you’ve had a go. It’s what you’d expect, but hopefully you can get an appreciation for how tough a pre-season is.

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“You’ve done that today, but tomorrow, we’ve got whack and a both of hand-eye and a bit of off-feet con, to do that every day for eight weeks almost, hopefully you can get an appreciation of how tough pre-season is.”

After just a sample of what these professionals go through, I’m happy to hang up my boots once more, but I have nothing but respect for those lads pushing themselves to the very limit every week in order to be ready for the 2020 season.

You can watch how I got on in episode three of Hull FC's At All Costs, which is due out on social media early next week.

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