Warriors adapt to life in Tamworth bubble
Warriors captain Roger TuivasaSheck says the team is getting to grips with life in Tamworth, having completed their first day’s training.
Players were able to train in small groups yesterday, a day before the other NRL clubs get back on the paddock and speaking from inside the team’s bubble in the remote NSW town, TuivasaSheck said the boys have loved being back together under these odd circumstances.
The Warriors are able to train in groups of no more than 10 this week and it could be a while before they do contact training. But while they can’t do any of this, TuivasaSheck said he still found it tough going yesterday.
‘‘It’s a different type of training to training on your own back home, inside your house or your little backyard,’’ he said.
‘‘Scully Park is a beautiful park and when you try to measure 60 metres to run back home compared to the real 60 metres, there’s a lot of difference!
‘‘It was a tough day today, but I’m glad to be back into it.’’
Warriors management found out before they left New Zealand on
Sunday that they wouldn’t be able to train together for the first week, so plans had to change and Tuivasa-Sheck explained how they’re now operating.
‘‘Day one training ran pretty smoothly,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m pretty sure the coaches and trainers all sat in a meeting yesterday trying to figure it all out, because we got new biosecurity rules come through and new protocols.
‘‘We trained in groups today. One group was up early, had breakfast, they did their mobility, got ready and then they were on the field.
‘‘Then the next group would have breakfast and then so on. So it’s almost like a chain, we’re in the breakfast hall, then it’s into the gym and that group stays together and we move along like that, in a little circuit.’’
Locked up for two weeks without being able to leave the facility won’t be easy and there is the risk of boredom setting in.
So far though, all the players and staff are excited about being together again and being able to train.
‘‘It’s only been two days so far and the boys have been so keen, they’ve been in the gym trying to get a work out,’’ Tuivasa-Sheck said. ‘‘Some boys are going two or three times a day. The trainers are definitely in there every day, they love it.
‘‘Some of the boys are in their rooms chatting with family. With the amount of space we have, the boys are keeping occupied.
‘‘Like I said, it’s only been two days so the boys are excited to be around each other. But it might be a different scenario in two weeks!’’
With all that’s got on with the Warriors over the past six weeks, it’s easy to forget about the poor start they had to the season, losing to the Knights 20-0, then the Raiders 20-6.
No Warriors player has scored a try yet this season and TuivasaSheck said they’ll be looking to make improvements in finishing when the season resumes.
‘‘Watching the first couple of games we were lacking the real edge on our skill and execution,’’ he said. ‘‘Especially in that Canberra game, we got ourselves into decent field position, but we were lacking that edge to get points on them.
‘‘This next couple of weeks is all about getting our skills back, getting the body right and hopefully when we move out of isolation we can start to work back in our 13 and team stuff, because we really need to pick up our game in that way, try to finish off our plays and execute a lot better with good ball.’’