The break clearly did them good as both senior coach John Longmire and head conditioning coach Rob Spurrs said the boys trained well and there was a lot of energy and talk on the track.
The coaching and fitness staff decided the best way to manage the Round 19 break was to give everyone four days off immediately following the game against the Western Bulldogs.
Spurrs said the idea was to keep the week leading up to the Club’s next game, against Essendon at Etihad on Saturday night August 6, as close to normal routine as possible.
Many players took the chance to get home to their families interstate, while a group also headed north for warmer weather.
But this morning, everyone was keen to resume training on a beautiful, sunny winter’s day at the SCG.
It was a light session but coach John Longmire said the players had trained well and got what they needed from the break. “They trained very well and really showed the benefit of having a couple of days to freshen up,’’ Longmire said.
“We had quite a few players back from injury and really good numbers on the track which is great to see at this time of year.’’
Last year’s top Swans draft pick, Jed Lamb, and the club’s top pick in 2009, Gary Rohan, were back in training after overcoming hamstring injuries, as was Matt Spangher, who made his club debut against the Gold Coast but has missed the past two matches.
It was also promising to see Mike Pyke out training and running hard after a long battle with a quad injury.
Spurrs said today’s session was mainly about getting the players moving freely after a few days away, and was a stepping stone to the next training session, which will be on Saturday.
“Today we just did a warm up, then some technique and 30 minutes of drills,
but it will be more up tempo for Saturday’s session,’’ he said.
“We’ll really lift the intensity then to make it more like a game situation, though it won’t be the volume of a game. We just want to keep a similar regime to what we would have if we were playing, so we decided to give the boys a few days rest and then train them a week out from our next game.
“They looked fresh after the break and it’s been great for them mentally - there was a real buzz out there today,’’ Spurrs said.
