Welcome Tiger Army to Day 3 of the Camp Blog. The last full day of activities in Yarrawonga.

We started the day with a hearty breakfast high in protein. And the team took on board plenty of fluids. It was going to be an intense morning of football activity and the GPS numbers were expected to be high.

At 8.45am, we had a team meeting where Chris Newman outlined the training schedule for the morning ahead. Many drills had code names, but to my uneducated eye, the drills seemed to focus on fitness and body strengthening, ball handling and transition, forward craft and defensive pressure. We then jumped into the mini buses and headed to the John Foord Oval in Corowa NSW. The Oval is home to the Corowa Rutherglen Football and Netball Club. There are a couple of Richmond connections to the oval and club. 1967 Premiership Tiger and Captain, Fred Swift, coached Corowa to an Ovens and Murray League premiership in 1968! And he took Corowa from last in 1967 to premiers in that year. A meteoric rise! A grandstand is named after Fred. And Assistant Coach Taylor Duryea grew up in Wahgunyah, the sister town to Corowa on the Victorian side of the Murray River, and played many games on Foord Oval. So it was a homecoming of sorts for Taylor.

The session went well in warm and humid conditions. The ball movement was clean, particularly from the 1 to 4 year players who make up the bulk of our list and have been training for a couple of weeks now. The coaches were happy with the session and the GPS numbers were at a level that a hill sprint session near town was not needed. We jumped back in the mini buses and headed back to Yarrawonga for a well deserved lunch.

After lunch, it was time for a canoe paddle down the Murray River. As with anything involving, players and water, some whacky hijinks can ensue, but a 10km paddle down the Murray with tasks along the way was enough to keep everyone relatively focussed. One task was to swap positions in the canoe while on the water. That did provide its challenges for the players! Anyway, all returned to the hotel relatively dry.

For dinner, we held a barbeque beside Lake Mulwala. A lovely setting. The line groups had one last team task to perform, and that was to sing a song. Honourable mentions to Tom Brown for playing his guitar and Tom Sims for some incredible dance moves to a Bee Gees classic. The Tony Mangan Award was also announced by Dylan Mangan, and this year’s winner was Seth Campbell, with honourable mentions to a number of players.

So another Preseason Season Camp concludes. Thanks for coming along for the ride Tiger Army. Exciting times ahead! See you at the 'G!