The temperature wasn’t quite 47.3C but it was uncomfortable enough for BA to note that we had to be diehards to be watching training today.
To say that the players earn their coin on days like this is an understatement. Over 90 minutes of fatigue inducing conditioning and skills had the players reaching deep into their energy reserves.
Even the rehab group ran relentlessly for the duration of the field session, and you probably only require one guess as to which player ran the furthest.
Here’s the highlights:
Middle Men Amaze
After the warm ups, stretching and core strength work with Lachlan Wimot, the squad launched into a couple of kilometres of shuttle runs. Wilbur Smith established early domination as he glided through the first kilometre or so. Jaeman Salmon was not far behind and the signs were there that a battle to cross the line first awaited.
The standout trainer today – Daniel Alvaro.
Fortunately, I didn’t dig into the wallet to back either runner as a smokey was about to enter the frame. Not a Smokey the Bear but a Polar Bear!
Daniel Alvaro literally powered home past the leading runners to win going away from the pack, with Jaeman Salmon finishing strongly to be alongside Smith. The improving prop did exceptionally well under the sapping conditions.
The sets of “W” runs were next up in the conditioning schedule. These were rounded off with 100 metre “sprints” (it was essentially a fatigued sprint).
Ray Stone continued to shine in his transition to senior squad training and his dedication must surely be catching the coaches’ eyes. Blokes like Kaysa Pritchard and Beau Scott also put themselves up front in these runs, but it was Tim Mannah who stood out, absolutely smashing the 100 metre sprints and looking like he’d give “The King” a run for his money.
Tim Mannah dug deep over the 100m sprints.
We spoke with Tim after training and he looked in superb shape. He put the players’ training efforts into context by discussing the need to always step up on the year before. If a team is going to improve on the previous season, every player has the individual responsibility of lifting their performance.
Opposed Work
The full field was in play, and the contact was stepped up a notch, as defence became the focus for the opposed work.
Plenty of pressure was applied by the defensive line as the attack was repeatedly shut down.
The sweat flies off Tepai in the impact of this tackle.
The casual observer, unaware of the session’s objectives, would have been forgiven for thinking that the Eels attack looked a bit scrappy today. It was not as if the attacking team weren’t endeavouring to make their mark, after all, you can’t assess a defensive line if nothing is being thrown at it. Evidence of this was witnessed early as a hoarse Jarryd Hayne bellowed for Norman to put up a centre kick that saw him sprinting through in a strong chase.
Rather, this apparent scrappiness was a measure of the effectiveness of the defence. Furthermore, the pressure even resulted in a couple of charge downs.
There was again very little to be read into the likely positions for particular players. Norman and Moses were in opposing teams and Kenny Edwards was playing in the halves (looking very sharp I might add). With nobody guaranteed a spot, all players are likely to be given their opportunity to impress.
A typical Cam King delivery.
In a defence dominated session, the attack finally found its groove in the latter part of the morning. The passes became sharper and the ball players found their runners. Cameron King continued to provide BA with an additional kicking option from dummy half. Undoubtedly the coaches would have been pleased with what they witnessed.
With the defence functioning as a unit, it was challenging to identify standout moments. For mine, it was difficult to ignore the following:
* A skilful tap-on from Will Smith as he chimed into the backline
* A classic low one-on-one tackle from Danny Alvaro
* A strong hit from Peni Terepo that we could hear from off the field
* The footwork of Bevan French carrying the footy
Author’s Note
There’s always plenty of eye rolls when the catchphrase “toughest pre-season ever” is used. And it’s understandable, given that every year, players from different clubs can be heard quoting these very words.
Every pre-season, every club would be looking to find ways of working harder than the year before – or at least looking for ways of extracting an improved physical performance from their team.
This pre-season has probably been the most physically demanding that I’ve witnessed – but with a difference.
There’s a sports science behind all of the conditioning. Be it the running mechanics, the workload and recovery each day, the structure of the week and the build throughout the pre-season – the methodology is being guided by Lachlan Wilmot. Brad Arthur has brought on Lachlan and his staff to take the Eels to a new athletic performance level this year and it’s been a very different preparation that they’ve undertaken.
The processes used during the season itself should be fascinating.
It will be intriguing to see the impact on match days and throughout the premiership.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Thank you for the update Sixties. Again Alvaro and Mannah shine in the endurance work, given their extra body mass its very impressive. Tim Mannah continues to be the ultimate professional, suggests he’s doing a lot of individual training.
Are the power sessions (BA referred to in JH’s media) clearly defined?
And true to BA’s previous years, defence seems to be front and centre.
I’m not quite sure what was being referred to as the “power sessions”. I’d have to check the media. However, I’m sure I recall mention of Jarryd completing an extra session on that first day. Also the squad complete some training in the gym and off site, so the field sessions are only a fraction of their preps.
You summed it up with the word “professionalism”. And for Tim, it’s also about setting standards as a leader.
Hi Sixties
Great insight as always
How is Tony Williams progressing?- Is he still in the rehab group or training with the main team?
Yes, TRex is still clocking up the km in the rehab group. To me, his progress has been impressive given he hadn’t commenced running when he first arrived.
I went over to the eels home page and went through all the gallery shots of todays training, its a great view and I for one am very impressed with the general appearance of all the players and how they are applying themselves.
A couple of the photo’s show Alvaro with a very long stride, something I have not seen before, looking at Tepai and Taka with new short hairdo’s is interesting but I wonder if the hair was a hindrance in the heat, I can remember my long hair days so know what its like.
Sixties you have summed up well by your descriptions, that do justice to the photo’s of the training sessions.
It’s interesting that you noticed that too Colin, because I meant to include a description of his stride. Thanks for bringing that up.
Mate, it really made me wonder with his strides as they were huge, he does not seem that tall nor long legged but if that’s something new in his training repertoire, I would think he is going to be a hard player to pull down if he gets a chance to run and use the stride at a distance.
Would love to actually see a video clip again of when he scored that bullocking try against the dogs and he took at least three of them with him over the line to score. Although, IIRC, his legs were not in anything like that stride, but closer together and using both to drive hard to score.
Maybe it might be worth going back a few years to see his try against (the Raiders?) when he charged from about 25 metres out.
Yes, and put the two together for comparison.
You won’t need to go that far back … No no no last years try vs dogs 1st game. I thought that try was just pure strength n determination.
Rev. That was the try that I was referring to, but would not mind having a look at the one that 60’s mentioned and compare both together.
Yes I agree I know 1 thing my brother it will be interesting to view both.
Interested to know how T-Rex is going. Plenty of competition for places in the Top 17 for 2018 esp in the forwards. Have you seen enough of Tony Williams to suggest he will be picked pn the b ench Round 1?
Thanks for the question Mark. It’s difficult to offer an opinion on selections without observing many opposed sessions. I reckon it’s entirely guesswork until Tony takes part in a few contact/opposed sessions.
Sixties, a quick thank you for these reports. Only way I can get my parra fix during the off season.
Can I ask how Hoffman and Auva’a are looking ? In your opinion who of the two is more likely to snag the wing spot. Cheers.
Similar to what I said about TRex, I prefer to wait for some more genuine opposed sessions. Hoffman always looks confident and fit, whereas Auva’a is a bigger build and will always need to work a bit harder. Consequently you have different types of wingers, both with different qualities for the team.
Auva’a is all power and can bring the ball back like an extra forward (similar to Semi’s charges on kick returns).
Hoffman is more athletic and probably better under the high ball. His carry to set up the disallowed try to Will Smith earlier in 2017 was a measure of his ability. These are two quality wingers to choose from.
Each new pre-season seems to me like the longest ever. Which is odd because this is the shortest off season since 2010.
Only you would come up with that statistic Pou. Where do you get all of this from. Your a real contributor
Thanks John. The only reason I know it’s the shortest (actually a guess) is because we haven’t played finals since then.
Once they start the opposed sessions with refs, it’s like the season has started.
Not for us slobs stuck in Melbourne.
Sounds like every man and his dog can play a halves roll.
It makes Norms and Moses seem one dimensional.
Maybe we’ll dump the hooker role and have 2.5 halves.
The main reason you need two halves is for their kicking game. At training it might not be such an issue to have only one kicker.
The versatlity in the backline means that the coverage in the halves is excellent. Smith, Taka, Hayne and Gutho are all experienced in the 6 or 7, but obviously Norman and Moses will be the ones to carry us a long way.
For such a long time, the dummy half seemed to be an undervalued role, with quite a few teams playing converted halves in that position. Given that no player handles the ball more, the recognition of the dummy half as a crucial part of the team’s spine seems logical.
Sixties the team / squad seem to be doing a high intense focus on 2km runs (speed I gather) and the normal shuttle runs for endurance and also power. How does this compare to 12 months ago; as it seems quite different but i gather the same result; and i add the leg strength / sports science of power seems to be heavily focused too.
Have you noticed any of the forwards bigger in muscle / bulk compared to 6 months ago? It must be a fine line between gaining speed / to the added strength and muscle.
Thanks again for another well written piece….
Thanks mate.
Whilst there was a heavy emphasis on endurance and rugby league type fitness last year, the methodology and science behind this year makes it chalk and cheese.
I’m very conscious of not giving too much away, whilst still being as informative as I can be. Let’s just say that it’s completely different to what I’ve witnessed previously, with a minor similarity to Paul Devlin’s work.
There’s elements of prehabilitation, techniques, building up core strengths and balances, allowing regeneration, correct and specific rehabilitation and subsequent training. I get the impression that there’ll be a difference in the work throughout the season too.
It’s difficult to pinpoint differences in muscle/bulk at the moment. To me Marata looks bigger, Tepai and Kenny look leaner and Tim looks in the best shape of his career. But I would also add that Gutho looks stronger, Bevan looks to have added muscle, and GL and T Rex are looking leaner.
I reckon Daniel Alvaro was always going to respond well to these changes and younger players like Ray Stone and Reed Mahoney have been major beneficiaries.
Ok thank you for that and the training seems to be intensive as always and strategic to say the least. Will be happy to come and see.
Marata may be in line for a middle forward role; and the Bear seems to be putting in as per the norm.
It’s a great time to sit back and read these comments and that of others, and thanks again for the comments and insight. Cheers mate
Cheers mate, Polar simply continues to push his claims every chance he gets.
I’m enjoying reading these over my morning muesli, becoming a bit of a ritual now.
The Polar Bear is a bit of a favourite in our house, and from the pictures and description, he’s looking to set up for a very strong year. I can see him stepping into a role of forward leadership with his strength and speed. I just hope he also advances his ball skills because a great offload will see him match it with the best in the game. Tim Mannah is also looking the fittest he has been for some years. This season’s success will be built from the forwards, and so far it’s looking promising.
What is going to be intriguing now for the next few weeks, is who will fill the final 2 spots (if they fill them both of course), with the Tank announcing retirement.
Yes, will they recruit soon? Will they wait till the right player comes on the market? I reckon that they would leave at least one spot for a mid season purchase.
Sounds like Daniel Alvaro is training the house down. Maybe he will be in line for bigger minutes this year. having said that he has always showed that he has a big motor and not frightened of hard work
The thing about playing longer minutes is that it reduces the minutes available to the blokes on the bench. We already have 80 minute forwards in Brown and Ma’u. If we went with an 80 minute hooker as well that would leave only three spots on the field to be filled by seven players (the three starters and the four on the bench). That’s an average of less than 35 minutes each. If Alvaro played for 60 minutes that would leave less than 30 minutes each for the other six forwards.
The best use of a high work rate middle forward is for the player to work harder in the limited minutes he is on the field, which Alvaro already does. Playing longer minutes would actually require him to pace himself. That’s only really advisable for key attacking forwards like Jason Taumalolo or an 80 minute dummy half. Alvaro’s best role is as a defensive worker. He can do that well in only 45 minutes per week.
Very astute comments Pou.
Sixties I thought Faingaa had a great end to 2017. Apart from all of the qualities you expect from a big forward he has good hands for a big man.
Thought some time with the full time NRL squad might be beneficial for his future.
I’ve got big wraps on Faingaa. He did miss 2016 so 2017 was an important year for him. He’s a talent, but there’s different reasons for bringing certain players in the full time squad, and the timing around it. His future would be mapped out and communicated to him, along with his goals.
You would have seen Salesi do a pre-season, but his RLWC selection and subsequent end of season break clashed with the pre-Christmas pre-season.
Quite frankly, I don’t understand the need for these six development spots at all. What does the NRL hope to achieve by it? The clubs know how best to develop playing talent. It’s never a simple case of, here’s our six now watch them go! If anything, it will potentially create an extra layer of resentment for those players who miss out.
I don’t know if I’m a fan yet. We now have a top 30 instead of a top 25. Using players outside of the top 25 caused problems in the past. Will a top 30 be enough to change that? Is 36 players in full time training enough? You’d probably hope so.