Day 6: Sunday, January 18

8am

Ahh … a rest day.

It’s nice to wake up having had a ‘Queensland sleep in’ (it’s never past 8am for Victorians holidaying in the beautiful sunshine state, is it?) after an enjoyable dinner the night before with the coaches and staff in Mooloolaba.

I drove one of the mini buses back from dinner to base – with coaches Paul Roos, Jade Rawlings, Dan McPherson and Andrew Nichol as passengers – and it certainly had its benefits. The great man, Roos, suggested we make a quick stop at Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

As Roos and the rest of the coaches made their way into Ben & Jerry’s, I waited in the mini bus. Minutes late, Roos came back with a cracking mint choc number for me (complete with fudge topping, because he thought I’d be a fudge kinda guy). Thanks Roosy!

But my morning starts off with some frustration. I realise I’ve woken up on the couch after crashing on it while attempting to watch Rage. After all, January is retro month on the classic ABC show and who doesn’t love watching old Countdown, Rock Arena and GTK episodes?

It’s a good day to have some down time.

The first week of the 11-day pre-season camp has been a success, but after a demanding opening six days for the players – particularly in the stifling heat – the boys have been given the day off. And it’s a great opportunity for the players to see some of the local sights or just chill out.

A possible fishing trip is floated, but in the end, a relaxing trip to Noosa proves more popular for most of the players.

For the coaches, a round of golf is on the agenda. But unlike Friday’s hit, the coaches are playing 18 holes. In the heat, that’s hardly down time or splashing around in the water!

But Roos reflects on the first week of the camp, saying it’s “been really good”.

“The game plan we’re getting better at and we’re building strong relationships. We’ve turned over 20 players in the last couple of years, [so building relationships has been important],” he says.

“The challenge for these camps is to get enough of everything and not too much. You want the players to enjoy it and get to know each other well and not for it (the camp) to become a burden.

“We had a really solid training session yesterday (Saturday) and we’ve got a couple to go, so we’ve got to make sure they keep working hard. We want to get all the things we set out to achieve at the camp – not just one thing and ticking one box. So overall, the first week has been good.”

Elite performance manager Dave Misson says he’s also pleased with the start.

Misson says it was important to give the players a day and a half to themselves so they could recharge for another testing week. He says they’ve deserved the day, but they’ve got to be ready to go next week.

He says the coaches and fitness staff have been “on to the players every day” and that will continue.

Misson says Monday, Wednesday and Friday are usually the big sessions, but every day has been big up at Maroochydore. Overall, he’s pleased with the way they’ve responded.

5pm

The players had to check in with the physios back at 5pm in readiness for four days next week.

7.30pm

The players and staff gather in the Maroochy Room in the hotel complex for a 30-minute meeting on the game plan. Vision and discussion among the players and coaches is gone through from training, before Jade Rawlings launches into one of his famous trivia nights.

There are several teams for the night. I’m watching on and near two teams. One consists of players Dean Kent, Heritier Lumumba, Neville Jetta, Jack Watts, Jeff Garlett and Jay Kennedy-Harris, plus footy staff Misson, Brad Miller (development coach) and Zeeshan Arain (doctor).

The other team close next to me features Daniel Cross, Nathan Jones, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney, Viv Michie, James Harmes, Angus Brayshaw and Dom Tyson, plus Ben Mathews (midfield coach) and Sean Larkin (football administration).

Rawlings has four categories for the evening: general knowledge, politics, geography and sport. And there are some doozies in there too!

Here are four examples:

General knowledge: What is the second largest planet in the solar system?

Politics: Name all of the current premiers in our country?

Geography: Name the six countries with these six cities – Warsaw, Copenhagen, Oslo, Nairobi, Lima and Brussels?

Sport: Four NBA teams don’t have an ‘S’ at the end of their name. Name those teams?

Now you’ve been given a sample, I’ll give you a few moments to ponder those questions …

Ready?

Not quite?

Need more time?

Ok, here we go … the answers are:

General knowledge: What is the second largest planet in the solar system? Saturn

Politics: Name all of the current premiers in our country? Colin Barnett (Western Australia), Jay Weatherill (South Australia), Campbell Newman (Queensland), Will Hodgman (Tasmania), Mike Baird (New South Wales) and Daniel Andrews (Victoria)

Geography: Name the six countries with these six cities – Warsaw, Copenhagen, Oslo, Nairobi, Lima and Brussels? Warsaw (Poland), Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Nairobi (Kenya), Lima (Peru) and Brussels (Belgium)

Sport: Four NBA teams don’t have an ‘S’ at the end of their name. Name those teams? Miami Heat, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic

Naturally, there is plenty of banter among the trivia night.

When Rawlings is asked about bonus points, disputed answers and other typical grumblings at trivia night, the backline coach says with his direct, deep voice: “I’ll make it up as I go along.” It draws plenty of laughs.

With a big session planned on Monday morning, Rawlings decides to cut short the quiz. It’s a fun way to finish the evening, after a pretty focused meeting about the game plan.

But as we finish the evening, one story comes out for the day from the players’ trip to Noosa.

We learn that Aidan Riley has been stung by a jellyfish!

Yep, the hard-at-it midfielder came off second best after attempting to take a skimmed tennis ball catch in the Noosa surf.

Riley lands on the jellyfish – did he attempt to tackle the marine animal? But instead, Riley comes off second best.

When I chat to him about the incident, he lifts up his tank top and shows a bit of a rash. But it’s nothing that will stop the clearance specialist.