It was welcome back to the majority of the NRL squad when the Eels hit the fields at Old Salesyards today. With the exception of Semi Radradra and Manu Ma’u, all currently contracted players were in attendance. With thanks to “friend of the Throw”, Geoff, we present the run down of the field session.

Welcome The New Boys

Suaia Matagi and Josh Hoffman both made their first appearance in Eels gear this morning. Both looked to be in great condition and fitted seamlessly into some of the ball work. Along with Niukore, Vave, Smith, Jennings, Brown, Auva’a and Fogarty, these players are adding incredible strike power and depth to the squad.

Conditioning

After some intensive warm ups, it appeared as if the players were completing 1km time trials. The fitness work continued throughout the remainder of the session, breaking up the periods of ball work. It consisted of short interval sprints and drills that had the players hitting the ground and rising into runs. The players were also split into four groups to complete circuits of the field. There was plenty of talk out there as the players drove or encouraged each other. Special mention must be made of both Tim Mannah and Beau Scott who were like machines out on the field. To return today and lead the work like they did, as senior players, was outstanding. Professionalism at its best.

Man or machine?

The Ball Work

The squad have moved into this aspect of their preparations much earlier than many of us expected. With the new additions to the roster, it’s undoubtedly a wise choice. Furthermore, these drills build on their fitness and add variety to the session. Today’s work involved running a variety of lines against a reasonably static defence line. This allows all of the players to become familiar with some of the standard shapes that the team will run. To the casual observer it appeared as if the player at first or second receiver could make a decision about how they would hit the line or how they would deliver the ball. The forwards played a decisive role in these drills.

Gutho excelled later during the extras work.

The Extras

Whilst many of the group worked on their passing skills, Norman, Gutherson and Fogarty completed a variety of attacking kicks. Geoff gave the edge to Gutherson in a tight contest. I’ve been reliably informed that Gutho has added something like 8kg to his frame during 2016.

During this time, Cameron King was fine tuning his short kicking game. As previously reported, the extras at session’s end is always interesting to watch as you pick up on the individualised skill development that each player is receiving.

Many thanks to Geoff for providing details for this report. TCT will continue to provide training updates as often as possible during the pre-season via our crew of friends such as Geoff. I will return to regular training attendance in January.

Eels forever!

Sixties

Images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels

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