With clubs preparing to return to training it's going to be interesting to see who returns fit and who returns fat.
It can't have been easy for the players to stay motivated and meet performance targets when they can't test their strength and fitness against their peers. I haven't been paying attention to the RFC website but I don't think they've shown how it is they're monitoring players' activity and performance levels remotely.
Was it Greg Stafford who showed how easy it is to boost your GPS numbers by driving around the ground during a formal training session? How would Relton Roberts have gone in lockdown conditions?
It must also be really hard for the newbies to understand what is required from them in terms of training load, let alone the other forms of education they receive – game plan, diet, recovery, mental health, team dynamics etc.
If I'm putting my money on anyone to come out of this in peak condition it's Jack Higgins. He's shown before through extra training that he's a fanatic. He also has a spot to win back, and he can only have benefitted from the extra time for his recovery away from the risk of head knocks. He's in my hub of 32 (not that it will come to that).
I also think Kamdyn is driven. I know he's been peeved at being overlooked last year (and when played out of position pre-2017), and prior to lockdown he had hired his own nutritionist and was the strongest at the club pound-for-pound. I'll back him to be strong along the wings when everyone else is reaching for the oxygen tanks.
I know it's unfair to speculate who may not return at peak VO2. The experts seem to say that the younger players lose fitness quicker, so we'll need to cut them so slack. But I hope that Bolton has continued with the professionalism he showed during the 18-19 summer, and that Stack lays waste to those who had doubted he would return in top nick last November.
Chol, too, had gone to extra lengths over summer to improve his fitness, and I hope the lockdown hasn't undone that effort.
Fitness is going to play a huge role in this season. I can see fitter sides turning lost games around or running up big percentages late in games, so I hope we're all fit and not fat.
It can't have been easy for the players to stay motivated and meet performance targets when they can't test their strength and fitness against their peers. I haven't been paying attention to the RFC website but I don't think they've shown how it is they're monitoring players' activity and performance levels remotely.
Was it Greg Stafford who showed how easy it is to boost your GPS numbers by driving around the ground during a formal training session? How would Relton Roberts have gone in lockdown conditions?
It must also be really hard for the newbies to understand what is required from them in terms of training load, let alone the other forms of education they receive – game plan, diet, recovery, mental health, team dynamics etc.
If I'm putting my money on anyone to come out of this in peak condition it's Jack Higgins. He's shown before through extra training that he's a fanatic. He also has a spot to win back, and he can only have benefitted from the extra time for his recovery away from the risk of head knocks. He's in my hub of 32 (not that it will come to that).
I also think Kamdyn is driven. I know he's been peeved at being overlooked last year (and when played out of position pre-2017), and prior to lockdown he had hired his own nutritionist and was the strongest at the club pound-for-pound. I'll back him to be strong along the wings when everyone else is reaching for the oxygen tanks.
I know it's unfair to speculate who may not return at peak VO2. The experts seem to say that the younger players lose fitness quicker, so we'll need to cut them so slack. But I hope that Bolton has continued with the professionalism he showed during the 18-19 summer, and that Stack lays waste to those who had doubted he would return in top nick last November.
Chol, too, had gone to extra lengths over summer to improve his fitness, and I hope the lockdown hasn't undone that effort.
Fitness is going to play a huge role in this season. I can see fitter sides turning lost games around or running up big percentages late in games, so I hope we're all fit and not fat.
