Aptly named the ‘HURT Camp’, it is tailored to build mental toughness and sees the players face the challenge of walking more than 60km whilst carrying a 300kg rope, without food and with little sleep. HURT stands for Honesty, Unity, Respect and Trust and according to the participating players the camp had a profound effect on them all.
Young Bulldog James Mulligan said that “the camp was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“We had to work through pain barriers which was very challenging mentally and physically” he said.
Development Manager, Chris Maple also attended the camp and say’s he was incredibly impressed with not just a few individuals but the whole group, “they were all really good and showed their strengths at different times. It really was a collective effort,” he said.
“I think the new recruits who attended, first year’s Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis and also new Bulldogs recruits Patrick Veszpremi and Nathan Djerrkura have gone a long way to earning the respect and trust of their teammates on the camp,” Maple said.
The camp which the Club first took part in last year has now become an important activity for the Development Academy, who are taught how to meet the pressures of their new careers.
During the camp players were told they couldn’t talk at different times and then the entire group was banned from talking, meaning they had to adapt and find ways to communicate and work together to get the job done.
The development academy will now review the camp and begin to set goals with their newly found knowledge.
