Eagles enjoying ‘virtual’ workouts
But Murray admits it’s tough training alone
Murray Davidson powers down a near-deserted Perth High Street as the St Johnstone stalwart keeps his fitness levels in check during the coronavirus outbreak.
Saints are unable to train together amid the football shutdown but fitness coach Alex Headrick is keeping close tabs on the players’ home programmes.
Davidson, whose testimonial year is currently on hold for the time being, has been putting in the miles around the Fair City on a daily basis.
He admits self-motivating when out running on his own can be a challenge but knows the importance of maintaining a routine. He said: “We’ve all now got our own programmes.
“Bod [Alex Headrick], the sport scientist, will be checking up on us and so will the management team.
“I’ve been running down the Inch most days to keep on top of my fitness.
“I’ve been sticking to all the guidelines and have been clearing out the way, heading up way past the golf course.
“Once you get past the Inch, I’m mainly on my own. That can be tough because sometimes it feels like you are just running for the sake of it.
“I’m not the type of person who likes sitting in the house so it’s good on that front to get out and take in some of the scenery.
“Mentally, it’s hard doing it on your own every day. But it’s something you need to do.
“When you’re running on your own, you don’t have anyone to push you or keep you going when it gets tough.
“I’ve been logging into my running apps and have been in touch with Bod most days. I feel fit enough.
“It sounds daft but when you’re running five or six days, you need to try and enjoy it.
“Everyone in the team is keeping up their fitness and I am quite lucky in that aspect. I’ll just keep ticking over.”
Davidson’s testimonial with the club is not at the forefront of his thinking at present.
He said: “I’ve spoken to the club about that but, to be honest, it’s been at the back of my mind. It’s not the most important thing at the moment.
“I’m proud to have been 10 years at St Johnstone and it’s excellent the club are recognising that.
“But we will just need to wait and see what happens. At the moment there obviously won’t be anything happening.”
It has been a quick-fire decade and more for Davidson since he joined the club in 2009 alongside Scottish Cup-winning captain Dave Mackay. He said: “I remember
Laughing at the living room decor arrangements of teammates was not how Perthshire Rugby Club envisaged ending their season.
The coronavirus outbreak has halted both training and matches for the foreseeable future but the Eagles’ coaching staff have been keen to keep the squad together.
North Inch group sessions are off the table but an online video communications application called Zoom is making sure players can still meet virtually.
Strength and conditioning sessions, aired out through phones and computers, are ensuring first-team stars and club members remain active.
“It became clear that we weren’t going to be able to train as a squad,” said head coach Alan Clark.
“I’ve been using Zoom quite a lot for work, as I think half the planet are.
“We have a strength and conditioning coach so we thought about running sessions over the application.
“There is still a coach running the session.
“The guys are able to keep up their fitness and everyone has been dialling into that from their house.
“There is a fair bit of banter flying around about people’s living rooms and all that sort of stuff.
“Every Tuesday and Thursday we do a session. Other than that, there is very little you can do.
“Sport is your second family and you want to keep connected to it and I thought it was quite important to keep going.
“We could just say to the guys: ‘you are into post season now’. But I think it’s good for us to keep these sessions going. We would be having gym sessions anyway.”
Scottish Rugby this week confirmed the domestic league season as null and void, meaning Shire will remain in the National League 3.
They were positioned in the relegation zone when action stopped but had recorded back-to-back wins with enough games remaining to continue the comeback.
“We feel we are competitive in this league and, if a couple things had gone our way early doors, the season would have looked completely different,” Clark said.
“We certainly feel we would have been hard done by if they had taken the league results as it stood.
“We had just hit some form and the club came together.
“A couple of weeks before it had looked like we were down and out.”
the day myself and Dave signed,”the Perth number eight said earlier this week. “It feels like yesterday.
“Time flies but I’ve had some brilliant memories. I have loved my time, still love it and hopefully I can continue.”
Saints were sitting on the cusp of the top six when league action was halted before a crunch clash at Hibernian on Saturday, March 14. A win would have taken the Perth men above their hosts.
“You miss the boys, the dressing room and you miss playing football more than anything,”added Davidson.
“I spoke to a few people about Perth before we went into the lockdown and they were saying they were missing it too. But we need to look at the bigger picture and obviously people’s health comes first.
“We were on a good run and the timing wasn’t great for us, but when it’s such a serious thing like this you need to put it first.
“Maybe a month ago people didn’t realise the severity of it, probably myself included. Day by day it was getting worse.
“Of course we miss football, but you need to look after one another.”