Apologies to begin this report. Having just returned from a brief trip across the ditch, I’m now plagiarising supporter signs. If only I possessed Forty20’s flair for creative titles. With that out of the way, my thanks to Parrathruandthru for his input on Monday’s session.

Monday

A heavy emphasis on conditioning was the feature of today’s field work. In recent weeks, I’ve been fortunate enough to get some feedback from Lachlan Wilmot about the need to balance heavier conditioning days with lighter ones. The players learn about that balance as part of their preparation. You want them to work hard, to push themselves, and to be highly conditioned athletes who can perform under fatigue. However, you also want the process to involve recovery and re-generation for future effort. It’s fascinating to watch the scientific approach this pre-season.

The heavier conditioning component was controlled by Lachlan and the Athletic Performance staff. Shuttle runs over varying distances followed on from the warm ups, stretches and reminders about the mechanics of their running. This conditioning then transitioned into the game component and the players alternated between these for the duration of their time on the field.

Fijian touch was again played as part of the session. For those unfamiliar with this game, the first pass must go backwards, but after that, forward passes are allowed. The players love this game and there always seems to be bragging rights up for grabs. For those who haven’t listened to our interview with assistant coach, Steve Murphy, and his explanation of the importance of game time, the link is here.

A rule observed today was that tries weren’t allowed if the entire team was not in the attacking half of the field. It seems that this would remind players to push up in support, in addition to ensuring that the conditioning element was a feature of the game – players could not afford to stand and watch when another made a break. There’s always a reason for everything at training.

Tuesday

On my arrival today, I was surprised to see Tim Mannah involved in the session. With his World Cup duties only just completed, the Eels captain was not due back until January. As he trained, I took the opportunity to ask some staff about his return. The response: “He’s a leader, it’s what he does.”

I spoke with Tim after he completed his work. After quizzing him on the performance of Lebanon and his pride in their efforts, he also confirmed that he hadn’t as yet returned to full time training. He is still going to take some time away, but he wanted to be involved with the team and not just watching from the sidelines in the early part of pre-season. Make no mistake – with so many young players involved in the pre-season, this sends a powerful message to these blokes about professionalism and dedication.

During this pre-season, Tuesdays have involved a lighter morning with a tougher afternoon. This means running mechanics and a skills session early in the day and hitting the hills after lunch. It keeps coming back to the balance needed in conditioning the squad.

The players complete their work in two groups of around a dozen players. When one group is out on the field, the other is working in the gym. The smaller groups allow for the staff to closely monitor every player.

Laclan, Nathan and Josh are progressing the players through their running mechanics education. Each week builds upon the previous one and it’s evident that change is being effected.

The stretches to begin the session are either different to those I’ve seen before or variations of standard ones. As the players completed a particular lunge type of stretch, I heard remarks from the group such as “hey, this is a good one”. There’s an obvious positive response to the changes.

Hurdles, weighted balls and pads are utilised across a series of drills designed to maximise speed and power in running. Body position, leg lift, leg movement, leg drive are all taught and reinforced throughout their time on the track. There’s no sprinting or distance running involved at this stage. It’s all about getting the mechanics right.

Their time with Athletics Performance Staff completed, the players took to the footy field for skills work with Joey Grima. Today, dual Junior Reps winning coach Scott Jones was in attendance. Scott is a teacher and runs the League program at Hills Sports High. His timetable allows for him to get involved with Eels training as part of his professional development. He informed me that BA was keen for him to be involved as often as he could.

This is not something to be glossed over. Junior development is of paramount performance to Brad Arthur. NRL skills coach, Joey Grima, is heavily involved in the Junior Rep coaching program, and investment in developing quality coaches like Scott Jones for the club’s future stars is a feature of BA’s whole club philosophy. Long term it helps with the cap and the culture of the Eels to be producing players who progress from Junior Reps to NRL.

The first part of the skills work just focussed on hand position with catching. Marker posts keep the players hands away from their body. Shifting into the catch/pass, multiple footballs are introduced to groups with rapid catching and lateral passing becoming the focus of the drill. During a game, a football can be offloaded or delivered unexpectedly or in pressured situations. This sort of practice makes it second nature to the players. Corey Norman is simply at another level with this sort of stuff, and Bevan French isn’t far behind.

I also witnessed further evidence about how important such drills are to the coaches. As always, banter is part of training. It adds to the enjoyment of training and creates bonds in the team. However, when some laughter occurred after catches were dropped, Grima did not mince words in reminding the players that a dropped footy was not something to laugh about.

After a couple of hours, the whistle was blown on the field session at Saleyards. The hills around Lake Gillawarna awaited.

Eels forever!

Sixties

Images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels