FOR THE BEST part of eight months, the Melbourne playing group has been completing an intensive running program.
Aside from two JLT Series matches and the Round 1 hit-out in Perth, the Demons have been doing a serious amount of training, but not much playing.
And while it will take a little bit of time for the entire competition to prepare for the next game, key defender Steven May believes his side is in as good a shape as ever.
“I think the boys are … a little bit fitter [than usual],” May said on the club’s Inside Melbourne podcast.
“Although it’s not match fitness, everyone’s weight and running ability [is high] because we’ve been doing it for so long, since September/October last year when we started our off-season program.
“I think the boys are definitely fit, it’s just going to be more that contact and getting back into that game sort of running and training in groups.”
Since the isolation period began, the boys have only been able to train with one teammate at a time, as per government ruling.
But with a specialised program from performance manager Darren Burgess in place, the boys have been able to prepare for the rest of the season, however that may look.
“It’s not too bad,” May said.
“There’s not a lot of drills you can do with just two people, it’s mostly just running and a few kicking drills, but Burgo has managed to still flog us.
“We’re still getting out 10km sessions which we’re getting used to.”
May admits that at times the mountain of work has been challenging, but he’s beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“The thing with pre-season and running programs, there’s always an end goal and you’re getting ready for something, whereas at the moment we’re sort of just waiting,” he saod.
“It’s like you train hard and then you go again next week and go again next week. But the season does look like it’s getting closer now.
“I’ve sort of noticed the sessions have gotten a bit lighter because he (Burgess) is getting ready for us to get back into training.”
Listen to the Inside Melbourne podcast below to hear May and James Harmes discuss life in isolation and preview the 2020 season.
