Wellington Phoenix ‘obliterated’ in boot camp

Steven Taylor likes a mental test as much as any player, but even his fortitude was strained by Mark Rudan’s latest initiative.

The Wellington Phoenix coach called in the army last week to give his side one last mental examination ahead of the A-League season. It involved a series of tests over 24 hours without food or sleep.

Taylor, a veteran of 15 years as a professional footballer, said it was the ‘‘the hardest thing I’ve ever done’’.

‘‘They absolutely obliterated us,’’ he said.

‘‘I think the manager is trying to break me, but I told him you ain’t gonna break me no matter what you do, so you can keep trying. I loved how he tried though. And no-one crumbled.’’

The day started as any other with the team showing up at their training ground in Berhampore before Rudan asked them to put their cellphones in a box.

‘‘The manager wants to test the players. He’s definitely working us, put it that way.

‘‘We were way out of our comfort zone [last week]. I’ve never done anything like that. I seen it back in England with a few of the Premier League clubs where they did something similar. I was never fortunate to try it.

‘‘To do it the way the gaffer had it, with no food, training all day, all night, only water, that’s it, he put us through our paces. The boys had to stick together. It did test a lot of us, the staff included as well.’’

Rudan said last week he would not be implementing the traditional leadership team in his squad, saying he doesn’t believe in them – every player has to be a leader in his squad.

The boot camp that, Taylor said.

‘‘Everyone had to come out of their shell, everyone had to lead at some point.’’

The Phoenix start their A-League campaign against the Newcastle Jets on Sunday at Westpac Stadium in Wellington. helped with