Thursday morning was business as usual at Old Saleyards. Elsewhere, critical mass approached as the media feasted upon the news of Jarryd Hayne requesting a release from the Titans. A couple of months ago I documented my opinion by writing about a return of The Champ in my Season Review wish list. Nothing’s official as far as Parramatta is concerned, but obviously I’m in favour of a home coming.

Today was a big field session of around 90 minutes. A collection of spectators were in attendance, and the work undertaken was worthy of a dedicated report.

Conditioning and Running Mechanics

This filled up most of the opening hour.

After the stretches and warm ups, Lachlan Wilmot had the players maintaining their running form over the small hurdles. It’s interesting to observe the change in running style with certain players. Undoubtedly there are individuals who have adapted faster than others, and to my eye, the differences seemed exaggerated over the hurdles.

Techniques to strengthen leg drive and lateral movement were then drilled before the running was broken up with a variation of handball called spike ball – a game that is apparently quite popular. It seems to have elements of volleyball with plenty of movement, innovations and laughs featured. I intend getting some insight about the purpose, if not the rules, of this game.

Maintaining running balance was then introduced. With their arms taken out of play through carrying sticks above their heads, the fellas find balance without their “wings” – something that you see in some of the finest runners of the football such as Greg Inglis or Tom Trbojevic.

Next on the agenda was the series of 50 metre and 100 metre sprints. To my eye, this was equally running mechanics and conditioning. With sprint upon sprint the order of the day, there was little respite for the group. That said, the expectation appeared to be more about maintaining their form and less about pace. Over 50 metres the players accelerate for the first 10m, maintain pace for 30, then decelerate for the final 10. Reed Mahoney continued to impress and Will Smith stood out as a natural athlete.

Skills .

For the final half hour, the players transitioned into the ball work component of the session. Set up down a narrow corridor inside the quarter, the group worked short side plays aiming to engage the defence and open up space. This was followed up by running plays on a quarter field. Bevan French impressed with both his hands and his acceleration through gaps.

The stand out from the players “extras” belonged to Kaysa Pritchard, Cam King and Reed Mahoney. These three working together on their dummy half skills is a regular feature. Although there’s obviously an expectation that the players in the same position would work on their skills as a group, these blokes genuinely help each other. Further to that, Reed Mahoney is receiving a tremendous education from two players that he will theoretically be competing with in the near future.

Author’s Note

It’s extraordinary to think that whilst I was watching the squad going through their paces, I was completely oblivious to the announcements surrounding Jarryd Hayne. It was not till I checked my text messages and listened to the news in my car, that I became aware of what had gone down during the morning.

For the Eels players and staff, staying out of conjecture and focussing on business as usual is the order of the day. With or without Hayne, competition for places in a team on the rise will be a new challenge. It’s not so long ago that there were few “good headaches” suffered by BA when it came to selecting his NRL team.

Times are changing.

Its off to the Territory next week for the Eels. Any NT readers, feel free to keep us informed!

Eels forever!

Sixties