Since his arrival at the Eels, Stephen Kearney has had one thing on his mind. That one thing, is pushing the players to the limit and getting them as fit as they can be for the 2011 NRL season.
Very rarely, do we see players put through their paces in such vigorous ways, but Kearney felt it was necessary to push them to their limit to prepare them for the new season.
At a session that ran for 48 hours with no sleep and minimal food, the Eels players were pushed to breaking point as the session was tough and physically demanding.
Pulling tyres with a rope through a creek while submerged in water fully clothed, or dragging an army truck 10km after two days without sleep, were just some of the rigours the players endured to name a few.
The hard-line stance in training, similar to that of the military is one that is often employed from the supercoach Wayne Bennett, and the mastercoach, Craig Bellamy.
“We wanted to keep it pretty much hush-hush,” Kearney said. “The big thing for us was it was an opportunity to get ourselves together before Christmas and work hard. Some of the exercises, the group had to really work together.
“Without a doubt we got what we wanted out of it. I thought the whole group was great.”
With Jarryd Hayne being identified as a weak link by his own players in regards to training, he gave it his all, and was pushed to his limit, as he is still hindered somewhat by his hamstring injury.
The one man however who just wouldn’t break no matter how hard the work got, was Eels stalwart and defensive workhorse Nathan Hindmarsh.
“Nathan’s been around a long time and I think people know by the way he conducts himself generally that he’s going to be a standout in that type of situation,” Kearney said.
The Eels strength and conditioning coaches Hayden Knowles and Craig Catterick were on hand purely from an observation perspective as well as to account for any injuries.