Day 1: Monday, January 12
8am
A CRUTCHES-hopping Jack Trengove is the first person in red and blue I notice from a distance, when I arrive at Melbourne Airport with digital video producer Courtney Hart.
A fit, tanned-looking Dave Misson soon greets us – after all, he is the elite performance manager. We have a quick catch-up, before checking in.
The players and staff soon congregate at the Virgin Lounge in preparation for Melbourne’s 11-day pre-season camp to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.
It’s Melbourne’s first pre-season camp since its trip to Darwin in December 2012, which was a great experience, albeit in incredibly tough, hot, steamy conditions.
Early morning café lattes and toasted sandwiches are consumed, but paleo food still seems to be the go for the players. (At least, no one was queuing up behind me for the weet-bix!)
I bump into Max Gawn and have a quick chat. He’s a ripper, Max. I really hope he can remain healthy and have a good crack at it, because he has genuine AFL attributes that can help take the Dees to the next level.
Don’t be fooled by his quirky, yet sharp as a tack sense of humour; he’s also a seriously determined young man. And a mad cricket nut, which I like! Yet his main team is the Black Caps, which is fair enough, given he was born in New Zealand!
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9:35 am
We’ve had our passes scanned, we’ve hopped on the plane and buckled up and we’re ready to depart Melbourne for Maroochydore.
The players and coaches are predominantly at the front of the plane, with staff towards the rear.
I sit next to two members from Melbourne’s ‘First XVIII’, Chris and Anthony, who are among the club’s key supporters. They are mad Demons fans who just love the club. They are part of an exclusive group, who share inner sanctum-like experiences. They are one of three ‘First XVIII’ members on the trip, along with Torsten, another hardcore Dee.
Beats by Dre headphones are soon popping up on the heads of passengers everywhere, yet there is still a sprinkle of Bose among the passengers. Most of the ‘Dre Beats’ are on Demon heads.
The flight is just under two hours. For those who nod off briefly towards the end of the flight (including yours truly), we are quickly awakened by a seriously bumpy landing. It was just one bump, but it was enough to wake us up! It quickly became a talking point.
10:55am
The team arrives on the Sunshine Coast and immediately heads for a quick check-in. Coaches Simon Goodwin, Jade Rawlings, Ben Mathews, Daniel McPherson, Brett Allison and Brad Miller are driving the mini buses.
Allison, the club’s head of development coach and dual North Melbourne premiership player, drives the mini bus I’m in. His co-pilot in the front seat is none other than the coach Paul Roos.
The players train at the Maroochydore Multi Sports Complex. The setting reminds me a little bit of when Melbourne trained in Darwin – but it’s not that hot!
12:30pm
The session consists of boxing and running drills.
Most players are involved in the drills. Trengove is one player in rehab. But he still manages to participate in boxing drills – all while sitting down – under the watchful eye of sport science coordinator and rehabilitation coach Alex Sakadjian.
Given Trengove’s foot injury, it really is impressive stuff to see watching on. Most mere mortals wouldn’t even dream of undertaking training in his situation. But despite suffering a navicular bone injury, he simply keeps … well, boxing on – pardon the pun. Let’s hope some luck goes his way.
The ‘light’ session is actually harder than expected. The conditions must certainly play a part. It’s pretty stifling. But there is some strong running in the session.
Training has come a long way, even in the past year under Roosy’s watch. It’s certainly noticeable. And the size and change in body shape has been evident on many.
2:30pm
Driver Allison and front passenger Roos again lead the way back to the apartment in the mini bus.
But before we take off, Bernie Vince heads over and hands Roosy ‘a pineapple’.
Why? You may ask. Well, it appears a $50 note had fallen out of the coach’s pocket. Good Samaritan Vince came to the rescue of course. Roosy was genuinely thankful to Bern!
Soon, we are on the short trip back to base. But there’s still time for Roosy to do one thing. And that’s change the radio. He wasn’t digging the country tunes emanating from wireless. Neither was Allison. Problem solved.
A late lunch was had, but it was worth it. The low carb, high fat diet dominated proceedings, but it got the tick of approval from the crew. Allison gave the big thumbs up to the staff afterwards.
The vegetarian lasagna and chicken were a hit with many.
4pm
From there, the players undertook a game plan, player trademark and benchmark session.
Each session lasted for 45 minutes.
Part of this camp’s key focus is to implement further tactics and standards for the players and these sessions were imperative in that process.
6.30pm
The players – and the rest of the touring party – are ready for another delicious spread, before taking it easy for the night.
Chris Dawes and Jack Fitzpatrick are among the players on my table. They both look in really good shape. Dawes in particular looks really lean. He mentioned that it was his leanest since he was a younger lad.
It capped off a good first day. And with skills, running and weights sessions happening on Tuesday, it will be a sizeable day for the boys in red and blue.
