ON TUESDAY morning, the first-year Melbourne players, leader Nathan Jones, academy coach Kelly O’Donnell, Leading Teams’ Jim Plunkett and fitness assistant Alex Sakajian and I headed for Warrnambool.
A handful of cars left AAMI Park in a convoy and started the fourth - and now annual - Melbourne boxing camp at Warrnambool, my home town.
Watch the Video - Boxing Camp 2011
The trip focuses on building confidence, mental strength and bonding. It’s a great way for the first-year players and the likes of Jonesy and I to further develop our leadership.
Our first stop along the highway was at Melbourne director Peter Spargo’s BP service station at Little River. Peter looked after us with some fuel and food, before we continued our road trip to western Victoria.
All of the boys swapped cars, so we could chew the fat with different guys.
When I got them into my car, I asked them questions about where they came from. Every player ended up coming with me in my car at some stage.
It was a great opportunity to get to know the players even better, and away from the club.
Our next stop was at Derrinallum, where we visited Daniel Nicholson’s family.
His Mum and Dad put on a great feed for us, and showed us around their farm.
We stayed there for more than an hour and sat around a chimney fire on the verandah. It was great to spend a bit of time with them and find out where Nicho comes from.
Then we made our way to Warrnambool.
On arrival, we checked into a local caravan park and then headed straight to Rude’s (aka Rodney Ryan) Gym.
We did an hour boxing session, which was great, and it really set the tone for the whole camp.
The boys got in the ring and did some sparring, and it was a really positive session.
After that, we went down to the beach and the surf club.
There were a few waves down there - it was very cold and windy - but it was good to jump back in the car.
We had a quick spa and recovery session, which Alex took, back at the caravan park pool.
For dinner, we went to the Cally Hotel. They put on a crayfish for us for an entree, which I didn’t get. By the time I got to it, the boys had polished it off.
Then we ordered some dinner - most of the boys had steak. It was a great feed.
After our meal, we called in and saw Mum and Dad. Mum wasn’t there, but Dad was home. It was good to show the boys where I’m from.
The boys met Jack the cockatoo and I also showed the boys ‘Down Under’, which is a room underneath the house, where I used to hang out.
After visiting home, we went back and had a Leading Teams session with Jimmy, which was good. We spoke about what we wanted to get out of the camp.
This capped off a pretty full-on day. Most of the boys were up at 6.30 am, because we had meetings at the club in the morning, and we didn’t finish until 10 pm. The boys conked out pretty quickly.
On the second day, we were up at 6 am and into a boxing session before 7 am.
It was bitterly cold and bucketing down with rain.
That session was the toughest - no question.
It was high intensity. Johnny worked us hard and it was one of the hardest boxing sessions I’ve ever done.
The good thing was that everyone got through. That’s what it’s all about - pulling your mate along.
After the session, we went to the breakwater and froze to bits - just about. We normally jump off the breakwater pier, but the current was that strong that the boys may not have been able to swim back.
It was pretty wild. It was also very cold.
In the afternoon, we had another Leading Teams session, which was a self-assessment session for the players. It’s beneficial for the young guys, and for Jonesy and I.
So, the good thing is that we came out of the camp with a clear message of what we needed to improve on.
After lunch, we visited the local hospital, which was good for the young players to do. It’s important to keep it in perspective.
We had a skills session at Emmanuel College in the afternoon, which included some kicking drills and strides. We capped off the day with another boxing session in the afternoon.
To cap off the camp, we had a roast dinner at my sister’s house, which was great.
We had to finish up the camp earlier due to the sad passing of Sean Wight. We all wanted to pay our respects to a Melbourne great, so we got up early on Wednesday and headed back to Melbourne to attend his funeral.
Overall, the camp was another success and it’s great to see the boys all gain confidence from it, as we move into the latter part of the season and beyond.
A handful of cars left AAMI Park in a convoy and started the fourth - and now annual - Melbourne boxing camp at Warrnambool, my home town.
Watch the Video - Boxing Camp 2011
The trip focuses on building confidence, mental strength and bonding. It’s a great way for the first-year players and the likes of Jonesy and I to further develop our leadership.
Our first stop along the highway was at Melbourne director Peter Spargo’s BP service station at Little River. Peter looked after us with some fuel and food, before we continued our road trip to western Victoria.
All of the boys swapped cars, so we could chew the fat with different guys.
When I got them into my car, I asked them questions about where they came from. Every player ended up coming with me in my car at some stage.
It was a great opportunity to get to know the players even better, and away from the club.
Our next stop was at Derrinallum, where we visited Daniel Nicholson’s family.
His Mum and Dad put on a great feed for us, and showed us around their farm.
We stayed there for more than an hour and sat around a chimney fire on the verandah. It was great to spend a bit of time with them and find out where Nicho comes from.
Then we made our way to Warrnambool.
On arrival, we checked into a local caravan park and then headed straight to Rude’s (aka Rodney Ryan) Gym.
We did an hour boxing session, which was great, and it really set the tone for the whole camp.
The boys got in the ring and did some sparring, and it was a really positive session.
After that, we went down to the beach and the surf club.
There were a few waves down there - it was very cold and windy - but it was good to jump back in the car.
We had a quick spa and recovery session, which Alex took, back at the caravan park pool.
For dinner, we went to the Cally Hotel. They put on a crayfish for us for an entree, which I didn’t get. By the time I got to it, the boys had polished it off.
Then we ordered some dinner - most of the boys had steak. It was a great feed.
After our meal, we called in and saw Mum and Dad. Mum wasn’t there, but Dad was home. It was good to show the boys where I’m from.
The boys met Jack the cockatoo and I also showed the boys ‘Down Under’, which is a room underneath the house, where I used to hang out.
After visiting home, we went back and had a Leading Teams session with Jimmy, which was good. We spoke about what we wanted to get out of the camp.
This capped off a pretty full-on day. Most of the boys were up at 6.30 am, because we had meetings at the club in the morning, and we didn’t finish until 10 pm. The boys conked out pretty quickly.
On the second day, we were up at 6 am and into a boxing session before 7 am.
It was bitterly cold and bucketing down with rain.
That session was the toughest - no question.
It was high intensity. Johnny worked us hard and it was one of the hardest boxing sessions I’ve ever done.
The good thing was that everyone got through. That’s what it’s all about - pulling your mate along.
After the session, we went to the breakwater and froze to bits - just about. We normally jump off the breakwater pier, but the current was that strong that the boys may not have been able to swim back.
It was pretty wild. It was also very cold.
In the afternoon, we had another Leading Teams session, which was a self-assessment session for the players. It’s beneficial for the young guys, and for Jonesy and I.
So, the good thing is that we came out of the camp with a clear message of what we needed to improve on.
After lunch, we visited the local hospital, which was good for the young players to do. It’s important to keep it in perspective.
We had a skills session at Emmanuel College in the afternoon, which included some kicking drills and strides. We capped off the day with another boxing session in the afternoon.
To cap off the camp, we had a roast dinner at my sister’s house, which was great.
We had to finish up the camp earlier due to the sad passing of Sean Wight. We all wanted to pay our respects to a Melbourne great, so we got up early on Wednesday and headed back to Melbourne to attend his funeral.
Overall, the camp was another success and it’s great to see the boys all gain confidence from it, as we move into the latter part of the season and beyond.
