Richmond fans are famous for their loyalty and there may be no more loyal Tiger than Andrew Sloman. Despite being based in New Zealand, “Slowy” rarely misses a game, travelling all across the country to follow the yellow and black. He has also often joined the team on their pre-season training camps, including making the trip to Arizona some years back. “Slowy” is with the team on their pre-season camp on the Gold Coast this week and we thought it would be great to get a fans perspective on what he sees on the camp and what excites him most about season 2019.

Day 3

There were a few sore bodies at the commencement of Day 3. Nothing unusual for a high load week, but still enough to crave an early morning pool dip, remedial massage or yoga session at 6am in the morning. Thanks to the Standard time regime in Queensland, the sun does rise at about 4.45am, so the early sessions are quite enticing, after coffee!

We ventured down to Robina Stadium after breakfast. The Stadium is home to the Gold Coast Titans NRL team, so it’s a rectangular stadium. The morning session consisted of slow paced skills and structure drills on the field, followed by Richmond Man and Conditioning sessions at the adjacent high performance centre. The coaches wanted to use the field drills to reinforce some structural positioning that we will use as part of the 2019 gameplan. I spent some time with the Forwards Group, and had the honour of hearing and witnessing Alex Rance give a masterclass on the craft of defending one on one. The aim was really to educate the younger forwards on what techniques defenders use and how to avoid, disrupt and win the ball. It was an amazing session and one I know that the Club’s competition winner to attend the Camp, young Brayden, will never forget.

We followed the field drills with a Richmond Man session. Ivan Maric discussed the Wellbeing and Development Plan structure process for the players and some action plans under same for the coming weeks. The Club does much to develop our players not just as footballers but as people, and of course wellbeing is paramount. A strength session then followed. Some big weights were lifted! Then we jumped into the rather warm minibuses for the return to the hotel, followed by lunch at a rehabilitation session. I’m pleased to report that driver navigation is improving!

MEMBERSHIP Join as a 2019 Richmond member today

In the afternoon, we ventured to Dreamworld. After a great Welcome to Country ceremony, we set about in our teams in an Amazing Race around the facility. We had a series of questions to answer, team photos to take at certain locations, and there was time for a ride. My White Team chose the Tower of Terror. It lived up to its name! My White Team didn’t win what was a highly competitive event. We did struggle with some of the questions about the Wiggles and the instrument the Crab Character plays in the band. Nonetheless, it was great fun. And congratulations to the winning Club Staff team named “The Bye”.

We had another rehabilitation session at Waterworld, following by dinner at the Top Golf Driving Range. Jack Graham starred in the golf skills challenge. He has a very good swing.

Anyways, tomorrow is a free day. There will be little to report, but I know the players will welcome the rest and there will still be some exercise on the golf course and other locations.

Go Tiges!