The boys are back in town... how new training set-up is working for Blues
IF you are walking through Bute Park in the next week or so, don’t be surprised to see some sizeable gentlemen whizzing past you on scooters.
That will just be the Cardiff Blues players on their way to training!
It’s become a familiar sight of late, in the wake of the Blues’ move away from their former base at the Vale Resort in Hensol.
They now split their time between the Arms Park and Sophia Gardens, hence the scooter journeys back and fore.
It’s a move that’s involved a lot of work at the ground, putting new facilities in place, but now everything is up and running.
And, having spent a day with the players, shifting to Cardiff city centre seems to have gone down pretty well.
The move came after the Blues were approached by the Football Association of Wales about taking over the lease on their training base at the Vale, which they shared with Cardiff City.
They decided to accept the offer of exiting their lease early and it was then a case of finding a temporary home ahead of securing a new permanent one.
And what better place for a home than their traditional one at the Arms Park? But the challenge was how to put that into practice and provide all the necessary facilities in such a short space of time.
Cue a very busy few weeks of building work over the summer that has seen a transformation at the famous old ground.
The club shop and Martyn Williams Pack Bar have been knocked into one space to create a new gym and weights room.
The media centre has been converted into a new medical and treatment facility, plus kit storage area, while a recovery suite has been set up in the home changing room.
Then across the way from the dressing rooms, the finishing touches are being applied to a sizeable new press centre, which will also incorporate lockers for the players.
There’s a team room for the squad to relax in between sessions, with the Jack Matthews Bar beneath the main stand being utilised for that, while the adjacent Bleddyn Williams room acts as the dining hall where food is served after training.
The coaches now have their offices in the hospitality boxes at the clubhouse end of the ground, with a view Tlooking out over the artificial pitch, which is used once a week for light
run-throughs.
And when it comes to training on grass, it’s on to the battery-operated scooters or bikes for a trip over to Sophia Gardens, with a deal having been done with the Welsh Institute of Sport to use a pitch across the way from Glamorgan’s Swalec Stadium.
So it’s been all change and rapidly so.
Sitting down with head coach John Mulvihill in his new office, the obvious question was how is it working?
“From the day we decided it was happening, within three weeks, the Vale was gutted and the gym and medical facility were up and running here,” said the Aussie.
“So it happened pretty quickly and it was a bit of a shock to the players.
“They questioned a lot of things early on, but when they understood how good it was, it was fine and they just love it now.
“There’s been no moaning and no whinging. They have just got on with it.
“It was a little bit silver spoon out at the Vale. You train with the elite of Wales and Cardiff City, so you are in that little bubble out there.
“To come back here and go back to your roots and a bit of old school, I think the boys have really enjoyed it.
“It’s something that has galvanised the group.
“Being at the Vale, we were pretty removed from everything.
“The players felt it a real drain during the down times between sessions and meetings.
“We don’t have that here because they can go and catch up with girlfriends and family or sit down with their team-mates and have a coffee somewhere.
“A lot of those discussions on rugby can be done in a coffee shop or a restaurant. You don’t have to have time for it when you come back and we can just get started.
“We’ve also got our own bespoke pitch at Sophia Gardens, so we train three days a week there and once here.”
And what about the scooters? “We talked about the fact it might take us half an hour to get 40 cars out of the Arms Park because of the traffic,” said Mulvihill.
“So we said how about we ban cars early on and we can get bikes and scooters and skateboards or we can just walk.
“The weather has been pretty kind to us so far, so it’s been good.
“They will have the option to drive because we have got some car parking spaces there and we can use the changing rooms over at Glamorgan cricket.
“As long as it’s not absolutely hammering down with rain, we will walk or ride over.
“We’ve said if we make the PRO14 final, we might go from here to the Cardiff City Stadium on scooters and bikes!
“It’s just different, a bit of novelty. “To their credit, the boys have been absolutely fantastic.
“I am really proud of the way they have just got on with it. Nothing has been too difficult. They have all worked hard to make this our home.
“It was only our home on weekends before. It’s our home all the time now and that’s going to count a big way in the season going forward.
“I think we might be here for possibly two pre-seasons before we move to a different venue.”
So what about the players’ perspective? After morning training at Sophia Gardens – complete with a drone overhead filming the session - I had a chat with skipper Kristian Dacey.
“To be honest, I think it’s better than we all expected really,” said the hooker.
“With them telling us we were moving to the Arms Park, which to some people is an old school ground, the first worry was the facilities,
“But, in all fairness, they have sorted out a really good set up, with the gym and the new physio and medical facility.
“What they have actually done there is phenomenal. Everything is in one place.
“When we were told about it, we were quite hesitant really about what we are actually getting.
“But in terms of what’s in there, it’s everything we need. They have done a cracking job in moving everything down.”
Being based in the city centre also has its benefits.
“The time we have got off, the boys are nipping into town for coffees or a haircut or doing whatever they need to do,” said Dacey.
“They are making the most of the time instead of just sitting round and playing cards in the Vale, with nowhere to go.
“I had been in the Vale for eight or nine years, so to come here is like a fresh start. It’s like a new club I suppose.
“It’s been good and the boys have really bought into it.
“It will be interesting to see how it fares now over the next season or so, whether we stay here and they develop the stadium or we find training facilities elsewhere.
“But, for the time being, what we have got is very good.”
So how exactly does the day pan out for the Blues players under the new arrangement?
“We get in at about 7am and, first up, we’ve got monitoring and weighing in and stuff,” explained the Merthyr-based Dacey.
“It’s a case of checking on any aches and pains and there’s different tests we go through, like hamstring, calf, grip strength.
“Then we have a light breakfast, so the boys can get some yoghurt and fruit or a bit of porridge into them.
“You have your individual needs then, whether it’s rehab stuff or stretching or any extras. That’s at 8am.
“Then we have team meeting and it’s straight over here to Sophia Gardens to do our rugby stuff.
“I am one of the scooter boys. I have got to stay down with the kids, but I’ve got to look after my legs as well, so the bike wasn’t an option for me!
“Training starts here at about 9.15am and we normally do an hour and 15 minutes.
“Then we are back over to the Arms Park for breakfast underneath the stand.
“Following that we have weights and sometimes unit skills.
“The day tends to end about 2.30pm. “It’s brilliant for me. I get home in time to pick my boy up from school.
“The way it’s set out, it works perfectly for the boys. We have got a schedule where everyone seems to be happy.”
And with that, Dacey was away on his scooter!
The positive response from the group has come as music to the ears of Blues chief executive Richard Holland.
“The boys seem to be enjoying the new environment,” he said. “They have really embraced it. “The players are happy, the coaches are happy and we are loving having them here at the Arms Park.
“For me as CEO, it’s a real assistance having everybody under the same roof. It’s a lot more efficient in terms of getting things done.
“It’s been a massive team effort to get everything up and running in time.
“We had to honour our promise to the players that all the facilities they had at the Vale would be available to them here at the Arms Park and we’ve achieved that.
“One of the comments we’ve had from a senior player is this now feels like home.”