I’m back! Well at least my diary is.
When the Port Adelaide digital team asked if I’d like to share a travel diary with you again I jumped at the opportunity.
I had a great time sharing some of my thoughts from the club’s inner sanctum as part of our European trip to Milan and London last year so I’m now looking forward to doing the same as we spend nine days training in Dubai.
And at the Power we truly like to be as transparent as possible so you, our supporters and members, can truly share in our journey.
Our Dubai trip started on Sunday night at Adelaide Airport where as a group we gathered at 7.30pm to check-in and prepare for our 10.30pm departure.
Typically the experienced players like the wily Kane Cornes pulled rank at the check-in and arranged an exit seat with extra leg room while a mere battler like myself had to settle for my knees up around ears for the thirteen hour flight to the United Arab Emirates.
After our meals were served on the flight at about midnight I tried to get as much shut eye as possible given that we were scheduled to arrive in Dubai at 5.00am followed by an early morning training session.
However, anyone who has travelled on a long-distance flight knows that as much as you try the quality of sleep leaves a lot to be desired and unfortunately this was the case for me.
Eventually we arrived in Dubai right on 5.00am and by the time we worked our way through customs and collected our baggage we were boarding the bus at around 6.15am ready to depart for our team hotel.
However, there was only one problem – where was Ollie Wines? After further analysis we realised both assistant coach Tyson Edwards and physiotherapist Tom O’Leary were missing as well. It turns out Ollie had lost his passport somewhere from getting through customs at Adelaide Airport to trying to get through customs in Dubai.
Panic soon set in as we thought Quadzilla may be deported home or worse still held in a local law enforcement facility. After a worrying couple of hours his passport was eventually discovered in the seat pocket in front of his seat on the plane and Tyson and Tim promptly got him to training just in time for the start (see the Day One video wrap on portadelaidefc.com.au this afternoon for Ollie’s grand entrance).
Training was at the world-class Dubai Sports City and Darren Burgess had us on the running track ready to go by 9.00am. Remember we landed after a 13 hour flight only four hours earlier so I knew this was going to be a tough day both physically and mentally.
Burgo got the playing group to break into six different teams which will remain together for the entire training camp. These teams will compete against each other in running and competitive drills with the winner, which will be announced at the end of the camp, to be rewarded with a prize.
My team appears the one to beat. Besides Yours Truly, the team is made up of Travis Boak, Aaron Young, Jay Schulz, Chad Wingard, Tom Logan and assistant coach Josh Carr.
Like a true stayer, we performed solidly on day one finishing in the middle of the pack, with a view of building slowly towards the end of the week and storming home late. To be honest, the aging legs of Josh Carr probably cost us today but I’m confident that with a good night’s sleep and a disciplined recovery regime Carry will launch out of first gear tomorrow.
For the record, each team did a variety of high-intensity running drills which left us all gasping for air in the dry Dubai heat. But just when we thought it was time for a break Burgo upped the ante and instructed us to do a two kilometre time trial. Once again, Kane Cornes dominated to win from new Richmond recruit Matt White, who was outstanding, with Sam Colquhoun and Brad Ebert placing third and fourth respectively.
A team lunch followed and soon after the whole group had a meeting where Darren Burgess outlined a range of key points, from what we need to get out of the camp to traditions and customs that we need to be aware of in the Middle East.
The main point that both Burgo and Kenny made very clear is that we need to extract absolutely everything we can out of every session in Dubai and then when we return home to Adelaide. A number of clubs have a three week start on us so it is imperative that we gain as much benefit as possible from training in the consistent Dubai heat. In short, the philosophy is very much the same as last year. We need to make every session a winner and do the little things well. Eventually, those little things will build into something very big and rewarding.
After our meeting the players left with a reinforced sense of purpose and excitement. We split into three groups and spent the remainder of the afternoon alternating between ball work on the nearby rugby field, weights in the International Cricket Council gym or stretching in the indoor facility.
Once our training session finished at 4.00pm we headed down to the public beach in front of the world famous Burj Al Arab hotel. This is the seven star hotel that has been voted the most luxurious in the world and is famous for the helipad on top where Roger Federer has played a game of tennis and Tiger Woods has hit a tee shot.
I’m actually in the process of speaking to hotel management to get Chad Wingard to launch a barrel from the helipad timed perfectly to land into a Renault Megane convertible driving below. If you reckon Chad’s last trick shot video was a winner then keep an eye out at portadelaidefc.com.au for this one!
We headed back to the hotel at around 5pm and settled into our rooms before a team dinner at 6.30pm.
After dinner everyone retreated to their rooms for a bit of rest and relaxation in preparation for another gruelling day tomorrow.
Cheers
Jasper
