Hi all,
I hope you all had a relaxing break over Christmas and New Years with family and friends.
I tend to get back home in the Christmas break and see the family in Torquay. The weather wasn’t great in Geelong but I still managed to get a couple of surfs in and five or six rounds of golf.
But there was still plenty of training going on too, so even when you’re on leave you never quite get away from footy!
It was great to get back and relax, and now it’s good to be back into the swing of things for 2014.
Every year, everyone says they’ve done their hardest pre-season yet. For our football club it rings true.
Our pre-season has gone to another level again. We started in Dubai where the training program we underwent was simply crazy. We were starting three weeks behind most other clubs and wanted to fast track our pre-season and get miles under our belts early.
The new interchange cap has changed the approach to our fitness training this pre-season. I didn’t think it was necessary to cap the rotation of players, but it’s done now and we have to deal with it quickly.
It makes our pre-season harder, with our focus is less on power sprinting and more on long distance work. It’s been pretty tough.
The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy, January being the hardest month of the year for a pre-season. It shows how important recovery is and we’ve been huge on it for the last couple of weeks with the heat.
There have been a few times when we’ve left the track wrecked and need to be extra vigilant on our nutrition and recovery. It’s interesting to see the way things have changed in the last few years as far as the science of nutrition, health and wellbeing away from the track and field goes. It’s part and parcel of being a professional athlete in our industry now.
Everything has been huge so far, but quite enjoyable because we’re getting a fair bit out of it.
The boys work really hard to improve every session and now we’re ready to go and play footy.
Benny Newton has been super this pre-season, as have Matty White and Jared Polec who joined us from other clubs in the trade period.
Robbie Gray has gone to another level with his knee as well, which is a really good sign for our forward line and midfield.
As a captain, when you look at the way your mates improve and develop, not only in a pre-season but in the last 12 months, it definitely makes your job easier. I have complete confidence in our group to do what Kenny and our coaches ask of us.
We want to get better, to never give up and to earn every win along our journey this year.
It was probably a little daunting when I took over the captaincy last year, but a year on I feel settled and comfortable in the role and know a little bit more about what to expect day-to-day, especially off the field.
On the field, things remain much the same. I try to keep leading by example in everything I do and that will be no different this year.
Walshie is a good sounding board for me and has been really helpful since taking over our leadership program at the club.
Obviously, Ken is a really good guide and mentor too.
I’ve also had so much support from Brad who has taken another step forward with his development as our vice-captain and from the rest of the leadership group which has been really strong throughout the summer too.
It’s great to have so many excellent leaders within our club and each of them brings something unique and different into the way we communicate with our team.
The other positive to come out of this summer has been the development of our club culture with the Maggies now part of our whole football program. It’s great to have one club now and for the young Magpies guys to come in and see what it’s like to be an AFL footballer when they’re starting out will really help them to improve the way they approach their own footy and personal development.
I want our AFL list to help and develop our Magpies guys in every interaction they have with them because for us senior blokes it helps us develop as leaders and footballers as well.
I can’t speak highly enough of what the integration of our footy program has done for our club culture and the electric feeling around our rooms during the week. The Maggies boys come in three times a week and work with Buddha, Surj and the rest of the Maggies program, but they are really just an extension of our bigger football plan to make us a strong football club in the AFL and SANFL.
I can’t wait to watch the Maggies in action at Alberton on Saturdays and Sundays this year.
Looking ahead, we have our annual Family Day on Saturday the 8th and it’s one of my favourite events on our yearly calendar. It’s great to have a trial game featuring our Power and Magpies players and we’d love to have as many supporters as we can down at Alberton watching the game and enjoying the other events we have planned.
Can’t wait to see you all here and, until then, make sure you join up as a 2014 member if you haven’t already - Adelaide Oval is going to be huge!
Cheers,
Trav
See the boys put all their hard work into practice at the Adelaide Oval in 2014 by becoming an 11-game season ticketholder or Essential Power member at weareportadelaide.com.au or call 1300 467 232 during business hours.
It was probably a little daunting when I took over the captaincy last year, but a year on I feel settled and comfortable in the role and know a little bit more about what to expect day-to-day, especially off the field.
On the field, things remain much the same. I try to keep leading by example in everything I do and that will be no different this year.
Walshie is a good sounding board for me and has been really helpful since taking over our leadership program at the club.
Obviously, Ken is a really good guide and mentor too.
I’ve also had so much support from Brad who has taken another step forward with his development as our vice-captain and from the rest of the leadership group which has been really strong throughout the summer too.
It’s great to have so many excellent leaders within our club and each of them brings something unique and different into the way we communicate with our team.
The other positive to come out of this summer has been the development of our club culture with the Maggies now part of our whole football program. It’s great to have one club now and for the young Magpies guys to come in and see what it’s like to be an AFL footballer when they’re starting out will really help them to improve the way they approach their own footy and personal development.
I want our AFL list to help and develop our Magpies guys in every interaction they have with them because for us senior blokes it helps us develop as leaders and footballers as well.
I can’t speak highly enough of what the integration of our footy program has done for our club culture and the electric feeling around our rooms during the week. The Maggies boys come in three times a week and work with Buddha, Surj and the rest of the Maggies program, but they are really just an extension of our bigger football plan to make us a strong football club in the AFL and SANFL.
I can’t wait to watch the Maggies in action at Alberton on Saturdays and Sundays this year.
Looking ahead, we have our annual Family Day on Saturday the 8th and it’s one of my favourite events on our yearly calendar. It’s great to have a trial game featuring our Power and Magpies players and we’d love to have as many supporters as we can down at Alberton watching the game and enjoying the other events we have planned.
Can’t wait to see you all here and, until then, make sure you join up as a 2014 member if you haven’t already - Adelaide Oval is going to be huge!
Cheers,
Trav
See the boys put all their hard work into practice at the Adelaide Oval in 2014 by becoming an 11-game season ticketholder or Essential Power member at weareportadelaide.com.au or call 1300 467 232 during business hours.
