Welcome to my second preseason training report of the new season as the Eels launch into their preparations for 2027.
The morning started in unexpected circumstances as I was introduced to incoming Eels CEO Mike Rush as he arrived at Kellyville HQ. I was pleasantly surprised when Mike said, “The Cumberland Throw” in response.
Researching the Eels supporter landscape would have been a key component of understanding what the club means to the community, and without doubt Mike would have familiarised himself across a broad range of supporter opinions, not just TCT.
It would have been a busy day for Rush, so my initial pleasantries were brief. In fact, not long after this he was out on the training track meeting the Eels coaching staff.
So to today’s session. It followed on from a lighter second day (Tuesday) that was moved indoors. This is all about managing the load during each week.
I still think there’s a player or two that I haven’t identified as yet, but it wasn’t helped by today’s absences.
As I indicated in Monday’s report, the preseason can involve part time participants, and those only involved up to Christmas. There are about four part timers in this group that will only train one day per week. They were therefore not involved today.
Chris Petrus (image Eels media)
The other difficulty in trying to determine who I omitted on Monday’s list was created by a small group sitting out parts of this session. I assume that was a loading issue.
New High Performance Coach (Strength, Power & Speed) Aaron Sculli took a leading role this morning as the players were taken through a variety of conditioning runs/tasks.
Apart from the hydration breaks, the players were pushed hard as they transitioned from one drill to the next. I’d estimate that the break up of conditioning/fitness to skills would have been around 55/45.
The morning began with their warm ups then it was straight into running mechanics, followed by draw and pass drills.
Eels fans want to know that the squad is straight into defensive work. Well, that started on day one and it continued today.
Firstly, it was a case of individual technique as the squad drilled one on one tackling, then it moved into systems.
Defence
On Monday, the system was only about the markers. Today included the movement of the markers and the defence line around the ruck. This wasn’t very different to what I’ve seen in past seasons, but that’s not surprising because it is about executing the fundamentals of working as a unit in defence. I was already noting the learning scaffold in operation.
However, the next drill was new to my eyes. I won’t describe it in detail (for obvious reasons). What I can share is that it was executed at speed and it asked questions in both attack and defence.
The first of the serious conditioning questions were then asked and the same standouts from Monday excelled – Lincoln Fletcher, Talen Risati and Ryley Smith. I also noted the efforts of Saxon Pryke and J’maine Hopgood who were right up there with the front runners.
For the coaches (or teachers) out there, the integration and scaffolded learning were both evident in the next sequence of drills.
The passing skills that the players executed on Monday were revisited, but they were firstly expanded to multiple players, then expanded further to involve core attacking shapes.
Lorenzo Talataina (image Eels media)
Following on from that was opposed grid work – draw and pass against defenders in small grids. This was the launch pad for some footy.
In expanded zones, the attacking teams had multiple player number advantages against the defending team. It was all unstructured footy which both highlighted some of the skills and vision of different players in addition to the scrambling efforts of the defenders. The greatest celebrations came from the defenders whenever they shut down the play against seemingly impossible odds.
The skills work was building on what was taught before, it was then integrated with other skills and in a game/conditioning format.
Finally the conditioning load ramped up as the work alternated between extended periods of running to create fatigue and passing drills. Could the squad execute just the basics under fatigue?
For context, please check out Mark Nawaqanitawase talking NRL on a rugby Union podcast, “The Good, The Bad, The Rugby”.
Marky Mark discusses how in rugby league, after the first ten minutes in each half, every player is functioning on empty. From there, players have to execute in states of exhaustion. He had to “find comfort in the darkness”.
When asked about the conditioning sessions, he described literally passing out in the second session and having to be sat under a cold shower.
The messaging to the Eels players in this preseason is almost paraphrasing Nawaqanitawase’s description. It’s about the undeniable truth that in the NRL, excellence in execution, in a state of exhaustion, is what wins games.
Eels forever!
Sixties
