A good 20 minutes after training had wrapped earlier this week, Richie Ryan and Nicki Paterson were deep in conversation with Ottawa Fury FC head coach Marc Dos Santos on the pitch.

As two of the older and more experienced players on a young Fury squad, both will be expected to take on leadership roles with the club this year.

During last weekend's intersquad game, both players brought a steadying presence up the middle of the pitch, dictating play and being vocal with their teammates when a little constructive criticism was needed.

Paterson's thick Scottish accent was perhaps the most notable during the match and more of that will be expected from him moving forward.

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But that's his style and he doesn't mind being looked to when it comes to providing a calming, veteran presence.

"I'm 29, I've been around for a while," Paterson said. "I think it's just bred into me. In the UK when you're younger, everyone has to communicate."

He said some guys are more comfortable with being vocal than others and there's nothing wrong with some quiet leadership to.

"There's a few of us taking it upon ourselves as a new squad, and Marc wants a few of us to step up and help the younger guys improve," he said.

He'll never say anything meant to put down a player or embarrass them, but he's not going to stay silent if the things aren't going well. You can expect he'll be equally hard on himself.

"I just expect a lot of the guys," he said. "I'm going to set an example and I expect everyone to do the same."

Dos Santos likes the chemistry building between the younger guys and veterans.

"It's a young but very mature group," he said. "I feel like they take care of each other."

TRAINING EXCELLENCE

Come out to a Fury FC practice and you'll see what a high-level warm-up and cool-down looks like.

Every day during camp, and presumably every practice thereafter, the squad is led through a series of stretches and conditioning exercises to get them properly prepared to train. The warm-up goes for a good 20 minutes before practice and for about that long at the end before the guys hit the locker room.

Though I'm told he's not one to seek the spotlight, having the Fury's head of human performance and fitness coach Kyle Thorne running that part of the team is going to be a big advantage. This isn't just a guy showing players how to stretch a hamstring - he puts a focus both on preparation and recovery after a workout, nutrition and ensuring the players are on the right path to maximizing their fitness.

Last week, Thorne had the players wearing heart-rate monitors for the first time at camp. He spent time after the session tabulating all the data for review.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Thorne is also the co-founder of the AccuRoller, a device used at the beginning and end of every Fury practice to help with muscle flexibility and recovery.

Thorne isn't exactly a rookie in the strength and conditioning game, either. Now working with OSEG, he will be working with the Ottawa RedBlacks of the CFL and the OHL's Ottawa 67's. But before coming to Ottawa, he was strength and conditioning coach with the NFL's New York Jets and strength and performance coach for Everton FC of the English Premier League. He also had a stint with doing the same type of work with the San Diego Chargers.

Fortunately, Thorne didn't have to start from scratch with the players coming into camp. Dos Santos said following one of the first sessions that he was "very pleased" with the shape the guys came in with.

"Sometimes they don't come at their best physically, but it wasn't the case (here)," he said.

Thorne can focus on the Fury for now, as the 67's regular season is winding down and the RedBlacks haven't started their own training camp yet.

SIDELINES

Thirsty fans will get to choose from a selection of Labatt beer at Fury FC matches once the team moves to TD Place this summer. The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group and Labatt agreed on a multi-year deal at the end of February. Budweiser will be the "official beer of OSEG sports teams and TD Place ... The players were busy Sunday having headshots and promo photos taken. Nicki Paterson tweeted a photo of him, snapped in mid-air as he fired an overhead kick in front of a green screen... The Fury will play two club friendlies against Florida International University on April 1 and 4 before the season opener against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Lockhart Stadium.

chris.hofley@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @chrishofley