The second week of Parramatta’s pre-season training has commenced and it remains a small squad at Saleyards. However, the addition of one player has already made a significant impact with Kaysa Pritchard immediately setting the standards in conditioning work.

With the remainder of the players not participating in the World Cup returning next week, the opportunity to provide personalised coaching to a small group of players has not been lost. Therefore, the players currently at Saleyards have received the individual attention that would not be possible in a squad of 36.

Monday

Clint Gutherson – you’d be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated or professional footballer.

As the team went through their conditioning on the main oval. Gutho slogged away with sets of 100m runs on the other pitch. Nothing out of the ordinary about a bloke in rehab running straight lines. However, when he was in his recovery time between sets, he moved straight over to the fence to bark encouragement at his team mates in their work. He’s a leader in this team, and there’s little doubt about that!

Speaking of leadership, on his first day back, Kaysa Pritchard led the way in the conditioning session. The late season form of Cameron King, along with the inclusion of Reed Mahoney in the training squad, has again heightened the competition for the dummy half role. Mahoney has started his first pre-season strongly, and it will be interesting to see whether he starts 2018 in Jersey Flegg or with Wenty.

The squad take a breather during conditioning, with Gutho working in the background.

More skills work and a bit of fun with Fijian touch then rounded out the field session.

This may come as a surprise, but being technically correct with catching and passing the footy requires practice, even at the elite level. The more it’s drilled, the more muscle memory kicks in during fatigue. It’s a feature of every field session and the players regularly do additional work when they undertake their extras.

“Fijian Touch” is always a popular game with the players. There’s plenty of improvisation, running and laughs. Above all else it gets the players thinking about finding space and it often features spectacular catching and passing. Ray Stone was my standout during today’s play. He chases hard and competes even when others get a start on him. I reckon this hasn’t been lost on the coaches.

At the conclusion of the session I caught up with new signing, Jaeman Salmon. He impressed in the SG Ball in Cronulla colours this past season and I’m looking forward to watching him show his skills in the blue and gold.

Tuesday

A lighter morning was the prelude to off-site conditioning work in the afternoon.

Some of the technical work from Monday’s session.

The squad were on the running track as Lachlan Wilmot led a running mechanics drill. The Eels are adopting a combination of technique and just damn hard work with their conditioning. There was no stretching out in this session. It was all about athletic technique.

From there, the group transitioned into skills with Joey Grima.

Catching and passing was drilled at a variety of distances and positions. It was a solid 30 minutes of skills and you can already see the improvement in some of the younger players.

Last off the field today – Kaysa Pritchard.

Kaysa had paired himself up with young Tui Afualo for additional passing practice. As the senior player, Pritchard was offering a few technical pointers for the NYC graduate. It seems peculiar to call Kaysa a senior player, but to an 18 year old like Tui, that’s exactly what he is. It also speaks volumes for the culture in the club to see the older players helping the younger blokes with their transition into the senior ranks.

A tough afternoon, and the rest of the week, awaits.

Eels forever!

Sixties

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