The season is now start to gather momentum now, teams are starting to get to grips with whats working for them and more importantly whats not! Teams have a few weeks of footage to analyse and I am sure many coaches will be analysing this looking for trends and common flaws in their own teams play and also the oppositions. I suppose Leeds have stepped out the blocks very well and will go into the world club challenge full of confidence, they face Melbourne Storm a team full of pace and guided by the guile and smarts of Cooper Cronk(great Aussie name). Melbourne and Leeds are two sides blessed with pace in abundance and I am sure it will be an amazing game and lets hope Leeds can follow our victory over the Brisbane broncos last year!
I have been missing recently from the saints team due to injury, in the season opener i damaged my medial ligaments in my knee and I am 3 weeks into a rehab programme that will get me back playing I am hoping this will be sooner rather than later.It is funny I have not played in the 2nd game of the Super league season for 3 years now I am jinxed!!
I have started running again though and Matt Viljoen our physio is working me very hard to ensure i am right when I return, I suppose being a physio is a tough job you only really interact with the players when they have received bad news, they must get on the wrong side of a few bad tempered and bottom lip dragging players. Fortunately Matt also has a very melancholy demeanour and suits working under the influence of sadness!!!
Its often the case when your injured you end up training harder than the boys who are playing! I am becoming very close friends with the perimeter of our training pitch and I have started talking to the dumbells in the gym(that's when a few of the boys are not using them to sculpt their arms-Fozz) I will be happy to get back on the field whenever that is, its a much more fun!
Its always nice when you receive a blow like an injury that all the team and people who support you help out in anyway possible,I would like to thank Simon at James Edwards land rover Chester as he gave me an automatic vehicle for the first week or so! it enabled me to get around and keep my spirits up. Thanks so much to them for that!
I thought i would take this opportunity to tell you that superstitions still exist in our game, some people this weekend will be getting changed in a specific place and in a specific order around the Super league grounds, some players will have edited a play list of favourite songs to inspire them but at StHelens we have unearthed the oddest of all superstitions, one young player steals labels from luxury clothing, keeping several down his sock during training and games, he often removes them and fondles the silky labels and rubs them under his nose to comfort himself.....I think its brilliant....obviously this must remain a secret due to the nature of the superstition, dont worry. I myself dont really have any apart from when we play at home I always write the older members of staffs names on the strapping list in the physio room, Stan Wahl our Kit man is due to have his knees, hips and shoulders strapped but it is yet to happen!!
It Wakefield for us and a massive challenge as they will be wounded following a defeat to harlequins! they are a big side and will threaten us, so we must continue to improve as the weeks go on! good luck chaps
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Warrington Fixture
The game on Friday night was of an excellent standard and as I am injured it was a great game to watch! I always get amused sat in the crowd it really opens your eyes to what spectators actually say during the match, some good and somethings you would rather not hear ha ha, It makes you realise how passionate supporters are and how your actions on the field really affect their emotions, especially my mother who is very small but also very loud and spends the majority of the game ot of her seat waving her arms ........well done lads on a great win and its good to be back at Knowsley road on a Friday night!!!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
If-By Rudyard Kipling
IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds' worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds' worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
This is something I had up on my wall as a child and I love to read it...........
First Game Blues
Unfortunately today we got beat in our first super league match of 2008, we found ourselves down early under constant pressure from Hull.KR and it proved we left ourselves too much to do! I would say one of the best tries ever scored got disallowed after the full-time whistle as Matt Gidley went into the corner....gutting! Its even worse when you celebrate like you have won the game and the officials pull the play back for an incident which happened a minute earlier...but thats the game and you just have to deal with it and move on, we play again in 5 days so its rest/sleep/recovery with a little bit of training between now and then, but well done Hull.KR on their first win.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Life In StHelens
I have lived in the North West for 6 years now and I cannot speak highly enough of the people of StHelens ! they always made me feel safe and welcome as a younger lad. When i first moved over I got put into a house the captain Chris Joynt owned and the neighbours all helped me out when frequ
ently the boiler was on the blink and Joynty was busy elsewhere!!! Going to training with a blue complexion during the winter months was a common occurance and occasionally a flock of penguins would gather in my bedroom to escape the sweltering heat outside.... I drove past my first house the other day to discover that it was no longer there it had been reduced to a levelled pile of rubble, I will be honest I was a bit gutted as that house was where my early memories of playing for Saints came from, and it was a doss house for first team members who lived outside the town and had too much to drink after post match victory celebrations....
ently the boiler was on the blink and Joynty was busy elsewhere!!! Going to training with a blue complexion during the winter months was a common occurance and occasionally a flock of penguins would gather in my bedroom to escape the sweltering heat outside.... I drove past my first house the other day to discover that it was no longer there it had been reduced to a levelled pile of rubble, I will be honest I was a bit gutted as that house was where my early memories of playing for Saints came from, and it was a doss house for first team members who lived outside the town and had too much to drink after post match victory celebrations....
I would like to announce that I have signed with Steeden the rugby brand which provides the matchday and training balls for Super League! I am delighted to be associated with a highly motivated and ambitious organisation as they develop there clothing, protective wear and rugby specific equipment. Check out the site for their new range of playing kits ! http://www.steeden.co.uk/
Steeden have also recruited my good friend Mike Bennet to help develop a range of shoulder pads for rugby league....
Thursday, February 07, 2008
2008 The New Season
I think everyone was impressed with the speed, intensity and level of skill on show in the Leeds and Hull.K.R game. It set early standards which all players and coaches will have had to sit up and take note of and in many ways it could set the tone for an energetic and explosive year!
The game of rugby league evolves like any sport and as the years have passed due to full time training , improved coaching at younger ages and increased understanding of the human body the game has increased in speed, players are becoming heavier ,faster,stronger and more importantly younger(in no way do i wish to alienate the elder members of the league, apologies Fozz). I often wonder at what stage the human body will reach its limit, and when the search for the edge in performance comes at the detrement of players health, I am pretty sure as our understanding of the human body increases as will performance and in rugby league the game will continue to develop and i predict that this season will be the fastest and most frantic yet.
For all other teams this weekends fixtures will be a chance to translate miles on the field and kilograms in the gym into tackles and carrys with the ball,for all the moments in the off season when Super League players lost their identity and questioned training in the rain and mud the first weekend of the year fills the part of our lives that has so obviously been missing,it changes from off-season cups of tea to inseason electrolyte drinks for hydration, from relaxing weekends to the pressure and expectation of being involved in a game, I love it!
It will be interesting to see who starts the strongest and which teams grab the early headlines, an early trend which occurs is the sides who have had the longest pre-season get the jump on everyone else! I imagine that all the sides who finished outside of the playoffs will be stronger and fitter early on in the year before the league settles down around 6-8 weeks in. Of course all teams will be prepared and be in tip top condition , I know at Saints we have worked hard and now there is a strong desire amongst our squad to play! We play Hull.K.R in round one and they have recruited very well and look to be a strong unit, they pushed leeds all the way and will be disappointed they couldnt close the game out. Our challenge comes to get up to the high standard they set last week and to win the game we must exceed it. I would just like to wish everbody in the league the best of luck for 2008....within reason that is, a few spots of misfortune against us would go down very well!!
I thought i would take this opportunity to tell you that superstitions still exsist in our game, some people this weekend will be getting changed in a specific place and in a specific order around the Super league grounds, some players will have edited a playlist of favourite songs to inspire them but at StHelens we have unearthed the oddest of all superstitions, one young player steals labels from luxury clothing, keeping several down his sock during training and games, he often removes them and fondles the silky labels and rubs them under his nose to comfort himself.....I think its brilliant....obviously this must remain a secret due to the nature of the superstition, dont worry Jamie Foster(18,about 6ft blonde spikey hair)your secret is safe with the lads!
The game of rugby league evolves like any sport and as the years have passed due to full time training , improved coaching at younger ages and increased understanding of the human body the game has increased in speed, players are becoming heavier ,faster,stronger and more importantly younger(in no way do i wish to alienate the elder members of the league, apologies Fozz). I often wonder at what stage the human body will reach its limit, and when the search for the edge in performance comes at the detrement of players health, I am pretty sure as our understanding of the human body increases as will performance and in rugby league the game will continue to develop and i predict that this season will be the fastest and most frantic yet.
For all other teams this weekends fixtures will be a chance to translate miles on the field and kilograms in the gym into tackles and carrys with the ball,for all the moments in the off season when Super League players lost their identity and questioned training in the rain and mud the first weekend of the year fills the part of our lives that has so obviously been missing,it changes from off-season cups of tea to inseason electrolyte drinks for hydration, from relaxing weekends to the pressure and expectation of being involved in a game, I love it!
It will be interesting to see who starts the strongest and which teams grab the early headlines, an early trend which occurs is the sides who have had the longest pre-season get the jump on everyone else! I imagine that all the sides who finished outside of the playoffs will be stronger and fitter early on in the year before the league settles down around 6-8 weeks in. Of course all teams will be prepared and be in tip top condition , I know at Saints we have worked hard and now there is a strong desire amongst our squad to play! We play Hull.K.R in round one and they have recruited very well and look to be a strong unit, they pushed leeds all the way and will be disappointed they couldnt close the game out. Our challenge comes to get up to the high standard they set last week and to win the game we must exceed it. I would just like to wish everbody in the league the best of luck for 2008....within reason that is, a few spots of misfortune against us would go down very well!!
I thought i would take this opportunity to tell you that superstitions still exsist in our game, some people this weekend will be getting changed in a specific place and in a specific order around the Super league grounds, some players will have edited a playlist of favourite songs to inspire them but at StHelens we have unearthed the oddest of all superstitions, one young player steals labels from luxury clothing, keeping several down his sock during training and games, he often removes them and fondles the silky labels and rubs them under his nose to comfort himself.....I think its brilliant....obviously this must remain a secret due to the nature of the superstition, dont worry Jamie Foster(18,about 6ft blonde spikey hair)your secret is safe with the lads!
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