Dow grits teeth for his summer of pain

CARLTON midfielder Paddy Dow says a summer latching on to co-captain Patrick Cripps in training drills will turn him into a smarter and better player.

Dow played an impressive 20 games in his debut season after being taken as a No.3 draft pick, but admits he still has a lot to learn. The new direction from fitness boss Andrew Russell is perfectly simple: “Last year I was one-paced a little bit, running around in circles,’’ Dow said.

“I don’t know about the technical stuff, but if you are rooted, just keep going. If you are stuffed, just keep going. Push yourself at the start and just keep going.

“With Andrew Russell coming in and improving my running capacity I have grown a lot. This summer it has been all about keeping your heart-rate really high and short recoveries because that’s what the game is about.”

Dow says that approach — leaving nothing in the tank from the first bounce — is possible because of a summer of pain.

Russell’s six premierships in AFL football are the kind of resume that has Carlton’s players full of faith in his methods. Dow will kick off his second season with a Thursday practice match against Hawthorn, but it was against Collingwood last year where he furthered his football apprenticeship.

“There was one game against Collingwood where we had a couple of players down and in the last quarter I had to run with Steele Sidebottom and that was pretty tough, he is such a well-developed player,” he said. “That was one of the games where I ran the most trying to keep up with him in the last quarter, but I learnt a lot from that game as well, how much you have to run to be one of the star players.

“Cripper has a similar running ability to me and I have been trying to hold on to the back of him. At the start I was struggling a bit, I had a week off pre-Christmas and I was a bit behind, but I am getting back into the mid tier now which is good.”

Blues midfield coach Cam Bruce says Blues fans will see the benefits of his summer focus this year.

“Paddy Dow is a guy who I reckon has got great growth in terms of being a more efficient player. He has attributes the best midfielders have — his ability to explode from stoppages — but he has great development in term of the most efficient patterns to utilise his strengths.”