Ok. I have now proved that I am pretty poor at keeping up with these blogs. So I'm not going to bother trying to claim to get better at posting more regularly.
My last post was back at the start of December, a whole 2 months ago. And there has probably been a ton of interesting stuff that happened in this time.
So - lets get going shall we.
First up - the international players all came back from duty, and as expected they were pretty beat up. Thankfully no major injuries, but they all needed a bit of rest. This didn't happen though as they were straight back into European duty.
Now then - the European cup. The two games of this we played in December were back-to-back against Leinster. First up at The Stoop and despite being underdogs we overcame the odds to win. This was a really brilliant performance. Our defence was huge from start to finish, and we really put them under pressure. We also took our chances when they were handed to us.
I was lucky enough to go along to the away game. This was played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. I've always wanted to go to Dublin, and I jumped at the opportunity. So I flew out a day after the squad, on the morning of the game. Working the game was incredible. The facilities they have at the stadium are fantastic, and the atmosphere was totally insane. Such a loud crowd and it was like a sea of blue in the stands.
Now - this trip ended in a bit of humiliation for me, as I went out on the town that night with some of the players, and last years Quins intern Ciaran - who happens to live nearby so knows the area very well.
This led to me missing my flight home. I slept through 4 alarms, yes 4! Waking up at 10:20, after my flight left the ground at 09:30. Awesome. So I booked myself a new flight and went home - with a very sore head.
Since then we have had a bit of a mixed bag in terms of performances. We've had some where we've looked fantastic, and others where we really don't. As a result, we are now out of the European Cup, and the LV Cup. Only leaving us with the Premiership to focus on. Which is bad in ways as it would be great to still have a shot at other competitions, but at the same time it is also good as we can focus on rising up the table to gain a Euro spot for next season.
The squad has also picked up a few more injuries recently, which is never good and hard to see. We've had a few new faces come through, a couple of props, a new scrum-half, and a back row player. It's kind of cool to have a few new faces about as it freshens things up a bit. But sad in that they came in to replace injured guys.
It's also the time of year where players are making career decisions for the future. A large number of guys have been re-signing at the club, which is great, but a couple have decided to move on elsewhere. Quins have also started looking outside for new people to bring in - such as the announcement of James Horwill, former Australia Captain, signing for after the 2015 World Cup. I personally think this is a really good signing and should sit in our pack quite well.
Personally speaking it's an odd time of year as Henry, Richie and myself are all starting to think about "What's Next?" I don't think there is going to be any opportunity to stay on at Quins unfortunately as I don't think any jobs will be opening up, so we have all started doing the daily scrolling through job sites like the UKSCA, UKSport, Times Education Supplement, BUCS and the LinkedIn Job Board. It gets a little tedious, but it has to be done as everyone in our position around the UK is in the same boat and looking for work. I've also been emailing around a few other clubs trying to see what might be opening up for the 15/16 season, but not having a lot of luck.
Ok, so I think we're now up to date.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.
Please feel free to get in contact with thoughts (or job offers) ...
nitmanperformance@gmail.com
Thanks,
Rob.
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Monday, 1 December 2014
November
So as I started the last blog off by saying I hadn't blogged in a while, and that I was going to do it more frequently again, I think we can all determine that was a lie.
Apologies.
It has been around a month since my last confession ...
SO - What's New?
Like I'd said previously I'm going to try and bring something new to the table each time I blog about the internship. I'm sure you can all gather by the past editions that the training week doesn't really change very much - and that is still the same.
The only difference this last month training wise has been two things -
1 - The selected players have been away on International Duty (for us that was England & Fiji)
2 - We've had a whole bunch of Friday night games.
These changes things up in a couple of ways -
1 - the players being away means we have less numbers at training, and also means the starting 15 is a little different to normal so our attendees in certain sessions change.
2 - the Friday night games alter our entire week. So we have big days on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday off as normal, Thursday is run through, then Friday game. Unselected players will also train Friday morning along with the Academy players.
We have also been doing recovery sessions on two of the Sundays this month. These have been down at Locker 27 where the owner is kind enough to let us use the facility to train the players. It's nice to have a change of scenery for us and for them. Keeps things a little more interesting.
As I type this we're expecting the International players back tomorrow from duty, and I'm actually really interested to see what kind of shape they come back in. I think it will be cool to see how much different they feel after International duty compared to Domestic. Kind of compare their morning readiness scores, and see how beat up they are compared to when they normally rock up after playing in the Premiership.
I remember after a couple of the European games some of the boys seemed a little more sore, so I'm assuming it will be another step up from that.
We shall see.
On to other interesting things:
One thing I found out a few weeks ago is that the Academy players get given cooking lessons from our resident Chef. It's something that has been brought in by the Team Manager (I think, not 100% on that though) to help them develop not only as athletes but outside of sport too. Obviously it will have carry over to their performances if they are consistently eating better meals, but I think it is good that the club are helping to provide for them in terms of life-skills as well as athletically.
They so far have done evening learning about beef meals, chicken meals, and also fish meals.
Pretty good idea in my opinion.
I've also had the chance recently to work a couple of games.
The first being a home game to Sale. Unfortunately we lost (which happened to break my lucky streak of not losing any game I attended). In my opinion we should not have lost this game. We had a good team out, and looked strong in patches, but just couldn't do a lot. I also happen to think the Referee was absolutely terrible - not giving us a penalty in open play until the 78th minute tells you something! But it's easy to point the finger at the man in the middle when you lose.
I also went along to the game away to Bath. I was helping out Dennis the kit man as none of his minions were available.
This was a pretty cool experience as I got to see what goes on behind the scenes from his perspective - setting up the hotel room, setting up the changing rooms, setting up basically everything! He is one busy man and I'm not really sure the players quite understand how much he really does. He gets through a lot of work that I think people just assume happens magically. Fair play to him.
This happened to be the game that Bath's Superstar signing got his first run out - a certain Sam Burgess. The only way I can explain what it was like when he ran out is comparing it a concert. You get a bit of noise when the support acts come out to play, but then when the headline act come out everybody gets fucking insane and loses their shit screaming the place down. Yeah it was like that. The whole stadium went absolutely nuts! I think it's the only reason the game was sold-out!
To be fair to him, he is a large human! I stood next to him and felt small. Well I say that, he's not like a man-mountain or anything, I'd say we're pretty similar. He's maybe an inch taller, but the fact is that he is pretty damn lean! This makes him look huge! I mean he weighs a little more than me, but he looks so much bigger because of the fact he's a muscular monster!
I reckon he's going to have a pretty good run in Union. I think he a natural athlete, a bit like Sonny-Bill in that he will transfer his own skill set and adapt it union, rather than try to become a completely different player.
Just my opinion.
Ok - so this time I really am going to try my best to keep this updated a little bit more and give some insight.
Hope you are still enjoying reading.
If you have any feedback, please please please send me and email because I'd love to get some opinions.
Thanks
Rob
nitmanperformance@gmail.com
Apologies.
It has been around a month since my last confession ...
SO - What's New?
Like I'd said previously I'm going to try and bring something new to the table each time I blog about the internship. I'm sure you can all gather by the past editions that the training week doesn't really change very much - and that is still the same.
The only difference this last month training wise has been two things -
1 - The selected players have been away on International Duty (for us that was England & Fiji)
2 - We've had a whole bunch of Friday night games.
These changes things up in a couple of ways -
1 - the players being away means we have less numbers at training, and also means the starting 15 is a little different to normal so our attendees in certain sessions change.
2 - the Friday night games alter our entire week. So we have big days on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday off as normal, Thursday is run through, then Friday game. Unselected players will also train Friday morning along with the Academy players.
We have also been doing recovery sessions on two of the Sundays this month. These have been down at Locker 27 where the owner is kind enough to let us use the facility to train the players. It's nice to have a change of scenery for us and for them. Keeps things a little more interesting.
As I type this we're expecting the International players back tomorrow from duty, and I'm actually really interested to see what kind of shape they come back in. I think it will be cool to see how much different they feel after International duty compared to Domestic. Kind of compare their morning readiness scores, and see how beat up they are compared to when they normally rock up after playing in the Premiership.
I remember after a couple of the European games some of the boys seemed a little more sore, so I'm assuming it will be another step up from that.
We shall see.
On to other interesting things:
One thing I found out a few weeks ago is that the Academy players get given cooking lessons from our resident Chef. It's something that has been brought in by the Team Manager (I think, not 100% on that though) to help them develop not only as athletes but outside of sport too. Obviously it will have carry over to their performances if they are consistently eating better meals, but I think it is good that the club are helping to provide for them in terms of life-skills as well as athletically.
They so far have done evening learning about beef meals, chicken meals, and also fish meals.
Pretty good idea in my opinion.
I've also had the chance recently to work a couple of games.
The first being a home game to Sale. Unfortunately we lost (which happened to break my lucky streak of not losing any game I attended). In my opinion we should not have lost this game. We had a good team out, and looked strong in patches, but just couldn't do a lot. I also happen to think the Referee was absolutely terrible - not giving us a penalty in open play until the 78th minute tells you something! But it's easy to point the finger at the man in the middle when you lose.
I also went along to the game away to Bath. I was helping out Dennis the kit man as none of his minions were available.
This was a pretty cool experience as I got to see what goes on behind the scenes from his perspective - setting up the hotel room, setting up the changing rooms, setting up basically everything! He is one busy man and I'm not really sure the players quite understand how much he really does. He gets through a lot of work that I think people just assume happens magically. Fair play to him.
This happened to be the game that Bath's Superstar signing got his first run out - a certain Sam Burgess. The only way I can explain what it was like when he ran out is comparing it a concert. You get a bit of noise when the support acts come out to play, but then when the headline act come out everybody gets fucking insane and loses their shit screaming the place down. Yeah it was like that. The whole stadium went absolutely nuts! I think it's the only reason the game was sold-out!
To be fair to him, he is a large human! I stood next to him and felt small. Well I say that, he's not like a man-mountain or anything, I'd say we're pretty similar. He's maybe an inch taller, but the fact is that he is pretty damn lean! This makes him look huge! I mean he weighs a little more than me, but he looks so much bigger because of the fact he's a muscular monster!
I reckon he's going to have a pretty good run in Union. I think he a natural athlete, a bit like Sonny-Bill in that he will transfer his own skill set and adapt it union, rather than try to become a completely different player.
Just my opinion.
Ok - so this time I really am going to try my best to keep this updated a little bit more and give some insight.
Hope you are still enjoying reading.
If you have any feedback, please please please send me and email because I'd love to get some opinions.
Thanks
Rob
nitmanperformance@gmail.com
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Catch up
OK! So I haven't written any updates to the internship in forever it seems!
To those of you who are regular readers - I apologise. I should have kept it up better.
My excuse is that I've been nursing an injury. On the 3rd October I dislocated my patella at rugby training, and it locked up due to a meniscus tear preventing my knee from moving like it should.
So I've now had surgery - blah blah blah. If you want details on this - go check out my other blog:
http://nitmanbabyrhino.blogspot.co.uk/
SO ... The Internship!
I have still been able to go in to help where I can. It has limited me being injured, but I can still help with the admin side of things, and to be in the weights room (not so involved as I can't really spot too good), doing protein shakes etc.
In terms of learning, the biggest thing that has been noticeable of late, mostly since the start of the regular season I guess, is the amount of changes that get made according the players. Some days they will come in feeling fresh, some days they come in beat up as hell so Gaz (head of S&C) alters either the entire group or individual players' plans according to how they feel that day. For instance if someone comes in with lower back pain and was due to do lower body weights, it will most likely change to upper body weights or just be sent down to the medical team. There is no "One Size Fits All" mentality whatsoever - which is 100% necessary in my opinion. These guys are all completely different as to what they can/can't tolerate, so it's massively important to have things tailored.
One of the more frustrating things is how sometimes things DON'T get tailored.
You're probably a bit confused considering what I've just said prior, BUT I'm now talking about rugby training. We feed back information to the medical team, and certain players who get "Red Flagged" if they're monitoring comes back that they're fucked also get mentioned the skills coaches, but a lot of the time it doesn't seem to have a lot of difference. It will just be "Well stop him once he reaches about 1.5-2k of running". And I suppose in some ways that's a good thing as they always want the players to be involved - BUT sometimes you just wish they could say "yeah ok let him rest".
I know I'm not the only one who thinks this, but unfortunately in this kind of environment I think it's the only real way of dealing with it as there is so much pressure to perform (plus the fact we have a small squad).
Another thing I've found interesting is how the squad react to wins or losses. As a squad we've had both, and the players react very differently. Sometimes after a loss they've come in and you can tell they've lost. Whereas other times they come in and it's like "well it's happened now - let's just move on" and they almost forget it ever happened.
Honestly - I don't know which is best. I mean everyone knows you learn a ton of information from losing, and as long as you learn from it I guess it doesn't matter whether you just move on from it, or whether you dwell on it. Every time I try to decide which one I prefer I counter argue myself. So I'll just say "Whatever works for you".
Performance wise - we're starting to look a bit more like the Quins of old. In our win at the weekend against Wasps in the new European Champions Cup or whatever the hell its called now we looked good in large amounts. We scored tries, and creating chances, through our open and expansive style. We also had a really good defensive performance, with a hard line press and tenacity at the breakdown. It was very good to see.
We're 2 from 2 in Europe, and we're 3/6 in the premiership. It could be worse. The squad is coming together nicely.
Other stuff from the internship - right now I'm starting to think a lot about what I want to afterwards. And it's probably mostly due to the fact that I'm injured and sat around doing fuck all after surgery, but I'm trying to come up with some options or ideas as to how I'm going to progress after Quins to continue my journey. Obviously the best outcome would be to get into a job in Rugby Union in the UK getting paid. That would be ideal. If not - getting paid overseas. Or getting paid in general.
But I also have a lot of options in terms of branching out and getting some more voluntary stuff under my belt to build a CV and help push myself forward in terms of knowledge etc so that people will want to employ me.
Those reading this - hit me up if you have any options or ideas!!! (nitmanperformance@gmail.com)
Right I think I'm done here.
I'm going to try keep these plenty regular again from now on, and I'll try to keep stuff varied.
Til then
To those of you who are regular readers - I apologise. I should have kept it up better.
My excuse is that I've been nursing an injury. On the 3rd October I dislocated my patella at rugby training, and it locked up due to a meniscus tear preventing my knee from moving like it should.
So I've now had surgery - blah blah blah. If you want details on this - go check out my other blog:
http://nitmanbabyrhino.blogspot.co.uk/
SO ... The Internship!
I have still been able to go in to help where I can. It has limited me being injured, but I can still help with the admin side of things, and to be in the weights room (not so involved as I can't really spot too good), doing protein shakes etc.
In terms of learning, the biggest thing that has been noticeable of late, mostly since the start of the regular season I guess, is the amount of changes that get made according the players. Some days they will come in feeling fresh, some days they come in beat up as hell so Gaz (head of S&C) alters either the entire group or individual players' plans according to how they feel that day. For instance if someone comes in with lower back pain and was due to do lower body weights, it will most likely change to upper body weights or just be sent down to the medical team. There is no "One Size Fits All" mentality whatsoever - which is 100% necessary in my opinion. These guys are all completely different as to what they can/can't tolerate, so it's massively important to have things tailored.
One of the more frustrating things is how sometimes things DON'T get tailored.
You're probably a bit confused considering what I've just said prior, BUT I'm now talking about rugby training. We feed back information to the medical team, and certain players who get "Red Flagged" if they're monitoring comes back that they're fucked also get mentioned the skills coaches, but a lot of the time it doesn't seem to have a lot of difference. It will just be "Well stop him once he reaches about 1.5-2k of running". And I suppose in some ways that's a good thing as they always want the players to be involved - BUT sometimes you just wish they could say "yeah ok let him rest".
I know I'm not the only one who thinks this, but unfortunately in this kind of environment I think it's the only real way of dealing with it as there is so much pressure to perform (plus the fact we have a small squad).
Another thing I've found interesting is how the squad react to wins or losses. As a squad we've had both, and the players react very differently. Sometimes after a loss they've come in and you can tell they've lost. Whereas other times they come in and it's like "well it's happened now - let's just move on" and they almost forget it ever happened.
Honestly - I don't know which is best. I mean everyone knows you learn a ton of information from losing, and as long as you learn from it I guess it doesn't matter whether you just move on from it, or whether you dwell on it. Every time I try to decide which one I prefer I counter argue myself. So I'll just say "Whatever works for you".
Performance wise - we're starting to look a bit more like the Quins of old. In our win at the weekend against Wasps in the new European Champions Cup or whatever the hell its called now we looked good in large amounts. We scored tries, and creating chances, through our open and expansive style. We also had a really good defensive performance, with a hard line press and tenacity at the breakdown. It was very good to see.
We're 2 from 2 in Europe, and we're 3/6 in the premiership. It could be worse. The squad is coming together nicely.
Other stuff from the internship - right now I'm starting to think a lot about what I want to afterwards. And it's probably mostly due to the fact that I'm injured and sat around doing fuck all after surgery, but I'm trying to come up with some options or ideas as to how I'm going to progress after Quins to continue my journey. Obviously the best outcome would be to get into a job in Rugby Union in the UK getting paid. That would be ideal. If not - getting paid overseas. Or getting paid in general.
But I also have a lot of options in terms of branching out and getting some more voluntary stuff under my belt to build a CV and help push myself forward in terms of knowledge etc so that people will want to employ me.
Those reading this - hit me up if you have any options or ideas!!! (nitmanperformance@gmail.com)
Right I think I'm done here.
I'm going to try keep these plenty regular again from now on, and I'll try to keep stuff varied.
Til then
Sunday, 21 September 2014
Week 11, 12 & 13
Internship Life.
Week 11, 12 & 13.
01/09/14 - 20/09/14
We are now 3 weeks in to the season.
3 games.
2 wins.
1 loss.
Not a bad start, but very far from perfect.
If you follow rugby, and in particular if you follow Quins, you will know what I mean when I say far from perfect. The first game against London Irish at Twickenham on the 6th September as part of the London Double Header was a pretty cool occasion. I wasn't working the game, Richie had the pleasure of running out at Twickenham this time. Lucky bastard. But I did go to watch.
The first game was a lot more interesting than I anticipated as Wasps gave Saracens a very close game and only lost out in the closing minutes.
Then our game - in the first half we looked very dominant and put some decent structure in place and looked confident. Then in the second half we collapsed. Penalties all went against us, we had players sin-binned etc. But we still came out winners.
Training this week was very interesting for me as you could tell that all the players were so keen and eager to get into game day. There was another huge buzz around training, everyone seemed very happy and also very focused. It was a really great atmosphere to work in, and you could see people talking little bits and bobs about structure and tactics when wandering around whereas before that was only in meetings and training. Everything became about this one game.
In terms of our training week, it didn't change a huge amount from how we had prepared for Pre-Season fixtures. Monday and Tuesday were the main grunt days, with therapy, skills, speed, weights and rugby. Then the players get Wednesdays off. Thursday is a fairly regular day, therapy, weights, rugby. Friday changes though as instead of being a full training day it was now a run-through day. This meant the players involved in the game would be at The Stoop doing some basic plays and running through their general patterns for the game the next day. Players not involved had some S&C stuff at SSP but pretty much just a regular weights session and optional conditioning.
So yeah as I said, nothing too different except the structure of the week and the layout workload wise.
Week 2 - Saracens at home.
Not really a lot to say about this. We lost and lost big. And worst of all, we scored a big fat ZERO points. Not good at all. I again wasn't working this game, Henry had it, and I imagine the atmosphere was pretty strange among the bench and staff etc.
This presented something pretty interesting to me in that I wondered how the players and staff would react and adjust things at training. I remember from playing that when we used to lose, and even more so when we lost big, we would get a right flogging and all the coaches would spend all the training that week trying to get us up for the following game to put things right.
But this is a much different atmosphere to anything I've done before, and you can tell. On Monday the whole thing was basically already buried and put in the past. A one-off. The one of which we do not speak.
The week was slightly different this week. First off the dreaded HotPod Yoga showed up again on the schedule on Monday. Forgot how much of a pain in the arse this thing is. But it's only once a week so not the end of the World. The next big difference was the week structure as it was a Friday night game. So the players still did their main work on Monday & Tuesday, Wednesday was off, Thursday was the run through, and the only players around on the Friday were those players not involved in the game - again just for some weights and conditioning. These days are quite good for us interns as 1-it gives us an extra day to earn money if we have work & 2-if we go in it gives us the opportunity to work quite closely with players as there aren't too many in on these days so it's close to one-to-one work.
Another new thing this week was the "A-League" game on Monday night. We had a fixture against Wasps "A" at The Stoop. I was the intern working this game, and I really enjoyed it. There wasn't much of a crowd but it was a good experience for me as I got to have a mic and ear-piece whilst running water, getting given messages from the coaches to feedback to the players when I ran on. Gives you an insight into how things run on a regular game-day as it's very similar - just up a notch or two. The "A-League" is designed for Premiership sides to blood young players and give them a bit of exposure. It allows these players the chance to show the things they've learnt in training without all the pressure of the Premiership. Plus - it is used a little bit of a stepping stone to see who has what it takes at that level as you get a lot of returning players from injury so it's not all up and comers but some pretty big names play in these games when coming back.
We won the game and put in a fairly decent performance which pleased the coaches as the players responded very well to all the messages being fed to them .
Week 3 - Wasps.
The week leading up to this was very much the same as the others. Nothing overly new came into place, the only difference now is that a lot more tailoring happens in the gym sessions as players come back in different condition - some really beat up, some pretty fresh. So it's about adjusting work-load to best fit their condition on the day.
The Wasps game itself was really good. I got myself some tickets from the club and went along to watch, I ended up sitting with all the lads not involved in the game (the injured or unused). That was pretty cool as otherwise I was going to be sat on my tod. Plus it let me see what the players are like when they're not playing, and how they treat the games as a spectator.
We won the game, but it ended up being closer than it maybe should have been. We had an ok first half performance, then when we came out for the second half we had a really positive 20 minutes or so. The performance looked very much like the Quins we want to see, very free-flowing and attractive rugby, but with big defensive performances.
The final 20 minutes or so we started to drift off a little and Wasps came back into the game to eventually be 2 points behind at the final whistle. It was always going to be a close game as it always is between these two teams, but it was very good to see the lads respond so well to the loss the week before, and to see them finally play the way they want to again. That hadn't been seen since the first half against London Irish in week 1.
So hopefully this week the mood will be pretty good, and then we have a big challenge next week going to Exeter on Sunday. Exeter have looked very strong so far - they thrashed London Welsh in week 1, lost narrowly to Leicester in week 2, and they beat Gloucester on Friday night. So this could be a great game to watch. Unfortunately as it's an away game none of the interns get to go and help, but the following week against London Welsh I get to have my first Prem Game. Should be fun.
So there you have it folks, a little look into how things change when the competitive season starts. The biggest thing I would say is the adjustments that get made to allow for players' recovery and progression.
Hope you all still enjoy reading, any feedback is always welcome as I know it can get a little samey but I will try to keep it as fresh as possible and show you all what goes on.
Thanks,
Rob.
Week 11, 12 & 13.
01/09/14 - 20/09/14
We are now 3 weeks in to the season.
3 games.
2 wins.
1 loss.
Not a bad start, but very far from perfect.
If you follow rugby, and in particular if you follow Quins, you will know what I mean when I say far from perfect. The first game against London Irish at Twickenham on the 6th September as part of the London Double Header was a pretty cool occasion. I wasn't working the game, Richie had the pleasure of running out at Twickenham this time. Lucky bastard. But I did go to watch.
The first game was a lot more interesting than I anticipated as Wasps gave Saracens a very close game and only lost out in the closing minutes.
Then our game - in the first half we looked very dominant and put some decent structure in place and looked confident. Then in the second half we collapsed. Penalties all went against us, we had players sin-binned etc. But we still came out winners.
Training this week was very interesting for me as you could tell that all the players were so keen and eager to get into game day. There was another huge buzz around training, everyone seemed very happy and also very focused. It was a really great atmosphere to work in, and you could see people talking little bits and bobs about structure and tactics when wandering around whereas before that was only in meetings and training. Everything became about this one game.
In terms of our training week, it didn't change a huge amount from how we had prepared for Pre-Season fixtures. Monday and Tuesday were the main grunt days, with therapy, skills, speed, weights and rugby. Then the players get Wednesdays off. Thursday is a fairly regular day, therapy, weights, rugby. Friday changes though as instead of being a full training day it was now a run-through day. This meant the players involved in the game would be at The Stoop doing some basic plays and running through their general patterns for the game the next day. Players not involved had some S&C stuff at SSP but pretty much just a regular weights session and optional conditioning.
So yeah as I said, nothing too different except the structure of the week and the layout workload wise.
Week 2 - Saracens at home.
Not really a lot to say about this. We lost and lost big. And worst of all, we scored a big fat ZERO points. Not good at all. I again wasn't working this game, Henry had it, and I imagine the atmosphere was pretty strange among the bench and staff etc.
This presented something pretty interesting to me in that I wondered how the players and staff would react and adjust things at training. I remember from playing that when we used to lose, and even more so when we lost big, we would get a right flogging and all the coaches would spend all the training that week trying to get us up for the following game to put things right.
But this is a much different atmosphere to anything I've done before, and you can tell. On Monday the whole thing was basically already buried and put in the past. A one-off. The one of which we do not speak.
The week was slightly different this week. First off the dreaded HotPod Yoga showed up again on the schedule on Monday. Forgot how much of a pain in the arse this thing is. But it's only once a week so not the end of the World. The next big difference was the week structure as it was a Friday night game. So the players still did their main work on Monday & Tuesday, Wednesday was off, Thursday was the run through, and the only players around on the Friday were those players not involved in the game - again just for some weights and conditioning. These days are quite good for us interns as 1-it gives us an extra day to earn money if we have work & 2-if we go in it gives us the opportunity to work quite closely with players as there aren't too many in on these days so it's close to one-to-one work.
Another new thing this week was the "A-League" game on Monday night. We had a fixture against Wasps "A" at The Stoop. I was the intern working this game, and I really enjoyed it. There wasn't much of a crowd but it was a good experience for me as I got to have a mic and ear-piece whilst running water, getting given messages from the coaches to feedback to the players when I ran on. Gives you an insight into how things run on a regular game-day as it's very similar - just up a notch or two. The "A-League" is designed for Premiership sides to blood young players and give them a bit of exposure. It allows these players the chance to show the things they've learnt in training without all the pressure of the Premiership. Plus - it is used a little bit of a stepping stone to see who has what it takes at that level as you get a lot of returning players from injury so it's not all up and comers but some pretty big names play in these games when coming back.
We won the game and put in a fairly decent performance which pleased the coaches as the players responded very well to all the messages being fed to them .
Week 3 - Wasps.
The week leading up to this was very much the same as the others. Nothing overly new came into place, the only difference now is that a lot more tailoring happens in the gym sessions as players come back in different condition - some really beat up, some pretty fresh. So it's about adjusting work-load to best fit their condition on the day.
The Wasps game itself was really good. I got myself some tickets from the club and went along to watch, I ended up sitting with all the lads not involved in the game (the injured or unused). That was pretty cool as otherwise I was going to be sat on my tod. Plus it let me see what the players are like when they're not playing, and how they treat the games as a spectator.
We won the game, but it ended up being closer than it maybe should have been. We had an ok first half performance, then when we came out for the second half we had a really positive 20 minutes or so. The performance looked very much like the Quins we want to see, very free-flowing and attractive rugby, but with big defensive performances.
The final 20 minutes or so we started to drift off a little and Wasps came back into the game to eventually be 2 points behind at the final whistle. It was always going to be a close game as it always is between these two teams, but it was very good to see the lads respond so well to the loss the week before, and to see them finally play the way they want to again. That hadn't been seen since the first half against London Irish in week 1.
So hopefully this week the mood will be pretty good, and then we have a big challenge next week going to Exeter on Sunday. Exeter have looked very strong so far - they thrashed London Welsh in week 1, lost narrowly to Leicester in week 2, and they beat Gloucester on Friday night. So this could be a great game to watch. Unfortunately as it's an away game none of the interns get to go and help, but the following week against London Welsh I get to have my first Prem Game. Should be fun.
So there you have it folks, a little look into how things change when the competitive season starts. The biggest thing I would say is the adjustments that get made to allow for players' recovery and progression.
Hope you all still enjoy reading, any feedback is always welcome as I know it can get a little samey but I will try to keep it as fresh as possible and show you all what goes on.
Thanks,
Rob.
Tuesday, 2 September 2014
Week 9 & 10.
Internship Life.
Week 9 & 10.
18.8.14 - 29.8.14
PRE-SEASON IS OVER!!!
That's right folks. Pre-season is now officially over. I am writing this a couple of days into week 11, which is now technically the "In-Season". May sound lame and quite sad, but I'm excited! Pre-season has been an absolutely fantastic experience, and I have learnt huge amounts during it, but I am looking forward to seeing what changes now we're in season. Two days in and already I can tell you that the intensity is at a whole new level in training - you can tell the guys are all itching to get out there at HQ on Saturday and play London Irish. And I cannot wait to watch it!
Ok that's enough about that. I'll get back to the main idea for this blog shall I?
So things have followed very much in the same pattern as usual, just with rugby becoming more intense, the meeting becoming longer, and the players all being very psyched.
One other thing that has been noticeable is that there is a lot more media attention now that we're closer to the season. There have been Sky Sports cameras around, BT Sport, and also Total Rugby were in all day during week 10 at some point. That was quite amusing to be fair as you see the lads in a different light as some of them act up in front of the cameras, whereas others try to act the consummate professional, and others don't seem to change whatsoever. I got a very brief bit of lime-light on the Sky Sports news bit.
In other news - the team won their final pre-season game. This was great news as it would've been a very tense atmosphere if they hadn't won a game before we start competitively.
Looking at training, and how things have changed in the last few weeks, I genuinely think that we could have a very successful year. The entire team look fantastic, and the way they are playing is great to watch - as is always the way with Quins.
One new thing that has come into play is more pool-work. This is done to allow the players some recovery after games, and it has been being used with players who are carrying a few knocks.
Now - I got a bit of stick from one of the senior players for this as I actually forgot to turn up to one of the sessions! I got told about it early doors in the meeting by my boss and agreed to do it, then I just completely forgot all about it! Which meant the players involved had to lead their own session.
My own fault and no one else to blame so I just have to deal with the stick and banter that comes with it I guess.
Apart from that - not a lot has really changed.
All I'll say is this - things are heating up! And things are changing now we're going into the season.
So watch this space for updates, and keep reading what goes on behind the doors at one of the best clubs in Britain, and what an S&C Internship entails.
Thanks for reading
Week 9 & 10.
18.8.14 - 29.8.14
PRE-SEASON IS OVER!!!
That's right folks. Pre-season is now officially over. I am writing this a couple of days into week 11, which is now technically the "In-Season". May sound lame and quite sad, but I'm excited! Pre-season has been an absolutely fantastic experience, and I have learnt huge amounts during it, but I am looking forward to seeing what changes now we're in season. Two days in and already I can tell you that the intensity is at a whole new level in training - you can tell the guys are all itching to get out there at HQ on Saturday and play London Irish. And I cannot wait to watch it!
Ok that's enough about that. I'll get back to the main idea for this blog shall I?
So things have followed very much in the same pattern as usual, just with rugby becoming more intense, the meeting becoming longer, and the players all being very psyched.
One other thing that has been noticeable is that there is a lot more media attention now that we're closer to the season. There have been Sky Sports cameras around, BT Sport, and also Total Rugby were in all day during week 10 at some point. That was quite amusing to be fair as you see the lads in a different light as some of them act up in front of the cameras, whereas others try to act the consummate professional, and others don't seem to change whatsoever. I got a very brief bit of lime-light on the Sky Sports news bit.
In other news - the team won their final pre-season game. This was great news as it would've been a very tense atmosphere if they hadn't won a game before we start competitively.
Looking at training, and how things have changed in the last few weeks, I genuinely think that we could have a very successful year. The entire team look fantastic, and the way they are playing is great to watch - as is always the way with Quins.
One new thing that has come into play is more pool-work. This is done to allow the players some recovery after games, and it has been being used with players who are carrying a few knocks.
Now - I got a bit of stick from one of the senior players for this as I actually forgot to turn up to one of the sessions! I got told about it early doors in the meeting by my boss and agreed to do it, then I just completely forgot all about it! Which meant the players involved had to lead their own session.
My own fault and no one else to blame so I just have to deal with the stick and banter that comes with it I guess.
Apart from that - not a lot has really changed.
All I'll say is this - things are heating up! And things are changing now we're going into the season.
So watch this space for updates, and keep reading what goes on behind the doors at one of the best clubs in Britain, and what an S&C Internship entails.
Thanks for reading
Monday, 18 August 2014
Week 7 & 8
Internship Life.
Week 7 & 8.
4.08.14 - 16.08.14
Ok, so after week 7 I decided to leave it a little longer before I blogged. The reason being that week 7 was pretty quiet. The main squad were away on training camp, living it up in France - the photos of the location look pretty incredible, whilst a few of us were still back in the UK at SSP training etc.
So the week mostly consisted of working with the grounded injured players, and also the Academy lads. The EPDG were also in throughout the week but I stuck with the other groups as I have more interaction with them throughout the rest of the year so figured it was the best use of my time.
So on the Monday of week 7 the squad had an event on at a local Hotel to go over team values for the year. Us interns didn't get to go, so to make the best use of our time Dick Steele, Henry a.k.a. Harry and I decided to have a go at fixing the broken ice bath (we made it a little better ... but still not fixed), deep clean the baths, and also deep clean the Hot Yoga pod. We also did a few other small bits and bobs but nothing major, just a few things to make our lives easier whilst we had the time.
Throughout the rest of the week the majority of our time was split between the Academy players and the injured players. It was very interesting to get some more focused time with both of these groups as you get some good insight into their mindset etc. For the injured players who stayed, they had both been injured for quite long periods, but they were very upbeat still and seemed to be happy enough to come in and graft away to make sure that when they make their respected comebacks they will be in the best shape they've ever been.
The Academy players are also very interesting as they are new to the scene having come through the EPDG, and they are all totally different when the senior players aren't around. They all seem to come out of their shell and be themselves a bit more, so you get to know them a little better once they've relaxed. This week also gave them a lot more time to work one-on-one with coaching staff so it was an opportunity to fine-tune their gym work and make sure they are doing things technically correct. This is very important at this level as it can help to improve the longevity of their careers.
Week 8.
The main squad returned to training on Tuesday, after spending Monday travelling back from training camp.
Tuesday and Wednesday followed much in the same pattern as before - consisting of Therapy, Strength & Speed, and rugby sessions also. The rugby sessions are very team based looking at patterns and set-piece a lot.
One thing that was interesting over these two days is how they treat injured players recovering from minor or major injuries after games. So for instance we had a couple of players who wouldn't be involved the following weekend at home against Pau, and some who would be. It may not sound very interesting to others, but for more it was good to see how and when they re-introduce them to all the different aspects of the week - weights, speed, rugby etc.
One thing that was pretty brutal this week was seeing one of the players go down with an injury in training. This player, who happens to be an avid reader of this blog and often gives me pointers which I very much appreciate, has been coming back from a previous injury, and has already recovered a couple of times over the course of the pre-season. He was looking very sharp - fast, strong and in good condition, and then all of a sudden ... Ping. Not good. You could see from his reaction, and the reactions of the players how much it means to have such a valued member of the squad go down.
When I went back into the sheds after training to sort a couple of bits, he was around and getting offered condolences by many players and coaching staff, and seeing him a bit shaken up was tough. I can't even begin to imagine how tough this is. I mean I've had injuries before, and I've had times where I've come back from one small niggle, to pick up another, and then another. Sometimes it just feels like everything is against you, and it's hard to break that mental attitude.
BUT - I have full faith that he will come back better than ever. And best of luck to you for your recovery from Dick, Henry and I - I know you're reading.
Thursday was a little different - we went down to Locker 27 in Weybridge for a weights and conditioning session. I think this was great for the players as it was a change of scenery, something fresh and offered different training to what they've been exposed to at SSP.
After the session at Locker, we went on to The Stoop for a rugby session. This session was open to the fans, and there were a fair number of people there to watch, mostly kids, but it's nice to see a decent turnout. The weather was very odd this day, it was glorious sunshine when we turned up, and then towards the end of training it decided to come down with torrential rain! Classic English weather! The players did their training, and then followed it up with some signings and photos etc with the fans.
Friday was a nice easy day for me. I was at The Stoop for the Captain's Run, and also got involved a little bit in the skills session for the players not involved in the Match 23. Got hit about on the pads a little but it was good to be involved. Henry was at SSP that day, working with Slim and the Academy, and then also with the 7s team in preparation for the World Club 7s at Twickenham over the weekend. Dick meanwhile was living it up in Budapest on a stag do ... likes taking time off that boy.
Saturday was a brand new experience for me - a home match day! The guys had a home game against Pau as part of their pre-season preparation, and I got to be involved as an intern. It's not as hands on as the 7s I did two weeks prior, as the coaches run on water as they can communicate any messages they need to get across. But my role was to help prepare any pre-game needs such as supplements, be available for warm ups and stretching, and then to prepare all the post-game supplements as well. Not very glamorous, but interesting to see the way players prepare at this level.
I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it seems very normal to them. I know that probably sounds very obvious, but it didn't really seem to phase anyone - it's just rugby. If that makes sense? I know from playing at a lower level you get guys who need different preparations - some are quiet and in their own little solace, some are laughing and joking, some are intense and focused, and some are just getting aggressive in their own ways.
The squad definitely seem very together for their goal this year - and that is great to see. The things that were talked about pre and post game seemed to be understood by everyone, and it seems everyone really wants to buy into what is happening.
The game itself wasn't anything special. Finishing 17-17. But it was a building block, and I think the true test of where we are ahead of competitive fixtures will be this weekend. We have an away fixture to finish off our pre-season fixture list.
I'm definitely feeling positive, and I think the players are too. Looks like it's going to be a good year and I can't wait to get involved.
Til' Next Time.
Week 7 & 8.
4.08.14 - 16.08.14
Ok, so after week 7 I decided to leave it a little longer before I blogged. The reason being that week 7 was pretty quiet. The main squad were away on training camp, living it up in France - the photos of the location look pretty incredible, whilst a few of us were still back in the UK at SSP training etc.
So the week mostly consisted of working with the grounded injured players, and also the Academy lads. The EPDG were also in throughout the week but I stuck with the other groups as I have more interaction with them throughout the rest of the year so figured it was the best use of my time.
So on the Monday of week 7 the squad had an event on at a local Hotel to go over team values for the year. Us interns didn't get to go, so to make the best use of our time Dick Steele, Henry a.k.a. Harry and I decided to have a go at fixing the broken ice bath (we made it a little better ... but still not fixed), deep clean the baths, and also deep clean the Hot Yoga pod. We also did a few other small bits and bobs but nothing major, just a few things to make our lives easier whilst we had the time.
Throughout the rest of the week the majority of our time was split between the Academy players and the injured players. It was very interesting to get some more focused time with both of these groups as you get some good insight into their mindset etc. For the injured players who stayed, they had both been injured for quite long periods, but they were very upbeat still and seemed to be happy enough to come in and graft away to make sure that when they make their respected comebacks they will be in the best shape they've ever been.
The Academy players are also very interesting as they are new to the scene having come through the EPDG, and they are all totally different when the senior players aren't around. They all seem to come out of their shell and be themselves a bit more, so you get to know them a little better once they've relaxed. This week also gave them a lot more time to work one-on-one with coaching staff so it was an opportunity to fine-tune their gym work and make sure they are doing things technically correct. This is very important at this level as it can help to improve the longevity of their careers.
Week 8.
The main squad returned to training on Tuesday, after spending Monday travelling back from training camp.
Tuesday and Wednesday followed much in the same pattern as before - consisting of Therapy, Strength & Speed, and rugby sessions also. The rugby sessions are very team based looking at patterns and set-piece a lot.
One thing that was interesting over these two days is how they treat injured players recovering from minor or major injuries after games. So for instance we had a couple of players who wouldn't be involved the following weekend at home against Pau, and some who would be. It may not sound very interesting to others, but for more it was good to see how and when they re-introduce them to all the different aspects of the week - weights, speed, rugby etc.
One thing that was pretty brutal this week was seeing one of the players go down with an injury in training. This player, who happens to be an avid reader of this blog and often gives me pointers which I very much appreciate, has been coming back from a previous injury, and has already recovered a couple of times over the course of the pre-season. He was looking very sharp - fast, strong and in good condition, and then all of a sudden ... Ping. Not good. You could see from his reaction, and the reactions of the players how much it means to have such a valued member of the squad go down.
When I went back into the sheds after training to sort a couple of bits, he was around and getting offered condolences by many players and coaching staff, and seeing him a bit shaken up was tough. I can't even begin to imagine how tough this is. I mean I've had injuries before, and I've had times where I've come back from one small niggle, to pick up another, and then another. Sometimes it just feels like everything is against you, and it's hard to break that mental attitude.
BUT - I have full faith that he will come back better than ever. And best of luck to you for your recovery from Dick, Henry and I - I know you're reading.
Thursday was a little different - we went down to Locker 27 in Weybridge for a weights and conditioning session. I think this was great for the players as it was a change of scenery, something fresh and offered different training to what they've been exposed to at SSP.
After the session at Locker, we went on to The Stoop for a rugby session. This session was open to the fans, and there were a fair number of people there to watch, mostly kids, but it's nice to see a decent turnout. The weather was very odd this day, it was glorious sunshine when we turned up, and then towards the end of training it decided to come down with torrential rain! Classic English weather! The players did their training, and then followed it up with some signings and photos etc with the fans.
Friday was a nice easy day for me. I was at The Stoop for the Captain's Run, and also got involved a little bit in the skills session for the players not involved in the Match 23. Got hit about on the pads a little but it was good to be involved. Henry was at SSP that day, working with Slim and the Academy, and then also with the 7s team in preparation for the World Club 7s at Twickenham over the weekend. Dick meanwhile was living it up in Budapest on a stag do ... likes taking time off that boy.
Saturday was a brand new experience for me - a home match day! The guys had a home game against Pau as part of their pre-season preparation, and I got to be involved as an intern. It's not as hands on as the 7s I did two weeks prior, as the coaches run on water as they can communicate any messages they need to get across. But my role was to help prepare any pre-game needs such as supplements, be available for warm ups and stretching, and then to prepare all the post-game supplements as well. Not very glamorous, but interesting to see the way players prepare at this level.
I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it seems very normal to them. I know that probably sounds very obvious, but it didn't really seem to phase anyone - it's just rugby. If that makes sense? I know from playing at a lower level you get guys who need different preparations - some are quiet and in their own little solace, some are laughing and joking, some are intense and focused, and some are just getting aggressive in their own ways.
The squad definitely seem very together for their goal this year - and that is great to see. The things that were talked about pre and post game seemed to be understood by everyone, and it seems everyone really wants to buy into what is happening.
The game itself wasn't anything special. Finishing 17-17. But it was a building block, and I think the true test of where we are ahead of competitive fixtures will be this weekend. We have an away fixture to finish off our pre-season fixture list.
I'm definitely feeling positive, and I think the players are too. Looks like it's going to be a good year and I can't wait to get involved.
Til' Next Time.
Monday, 4 August 2014
Week 6
Internship Life.
Week 6.
28.7.14 - 01.08.14
It's that time again - time for a catch up!
Last week followed very much in the footsteps of the week before in that it was very busy from start to finish of every single day. It followed a similar pattern as normal with Therapy, weights, conditioning, speed and rugby training.
Again, there were several different schedules going on, but this week it made a little more sense - for example the England Returnees would be running whilst the main group did rugby, and they'd all do weights at the same time just different sessions.
The biggest difference this week was the double days of rugby. Rugby is now in full swing and the guys are training most days, and it's normally twice a day. So by Friday a lot of the guys looked pretty knackered but its coming up to the first pre-season fixture now so it's important they get the work in as Quins play a good brand of rugby so plenty of training time is necessary.
Another interesting part of the week - especially for me - was the 7s. Quins sent a side up to Franklins Gardens in Northampton on Friday night for the Premiership 7s Series, and I was lucky enough to get to go along as an intern and provide assistance for the evening.
My role for the evening was basically to help out wherever I could, so I helped load the bus, unload the bus, prepare the water, prepare gatorade, make up protein shakes, make up any pre-game supplements the players wanted, help with the GPS units, help with warm up and stretching, and then my main role was running the water on during the games themselves. As it was being shown live on BT Sport this was pretty sweet.
Quins came away victorious, winning all 3 games. The guys put in a lot of hard work, and they were all pretty dead by the end of the 3rd game, but it was worth it I think as they now progress on to the next round. Joe Marchant, one of the ACAD lads who is on loan to Worthing Raiders this year (my hometown club) had an absolutely brilliant evening and came away with a bottle of bubbly as player of the tournament. But in all honesty - the entire squad played well.
This next week is another quieter one - the main squad are off on pre-season camp ending with their first pre-season fixture, so I will be in and around SSP helping out with the ACAD and the injured players who are staying home to continue their rehab/preparations.
Hopefully next week I should be able to go a little more in-depth on what we do with injured players or ACAD, just to mix things up a bit.
Thanks for reading.
Week 6.
28.7.14 - 01.08.14
It's that time again - time for a catch up!
Last week followed very much in the footsteps of the week before in that it was very busy from start to finish of every single day. It followed a similar pattern as normal with Therapy, weights, conditioning, speed and rugby training.
Again, there were several different schedules going on, but this week it made a little more sense - for example the England Returnees would be running whilst the main group did rugby, and they'd all do weights at the same time just different sessions.
The biggest difference this week was the double days of rugby. Rugby is now in full swing and the guys are training most days, and it's normally twice a day. So by Friday a lot of the guys looked pretty knackered but its coming up to the first pre-season fixture now so it's important they get the work in as Quins play a good brand of rugby so plenty of training time is necessary.
Another interesting part of the week - especially for me - was the 7s. Quins sent a side up to Franklins Gardens in Northampton on Friday night for the Premiership 7s Series, and I was lucky enough to get to go along as an intern and provide assistance for the evening.
My role for the evening was basically to help out wherever I could, so I helped load the bus, unload the bus, prepare the water, prepare gatorade, make up protein shakes, make up any pre-game supplements the players wanted, help with the GPS units, help with warm up and stretching, and then my main role was running the water on during the games themselves. As it was being shown live on BT Sport this was pretty sweet.
Quins came away victorious, winning all 3 games. The guys put in a lot of hard work, and they were all pretty dead by the end of the 3rd game, but it was worth it I think as they now progress on to the next round. Joe Marchant, one of the ACAD lads who is on loan to Worthing Raiders this year (my hometown club) had an absolutely brilliant evening and came away with a bottle of bubbly as player of the tournament. But in all honesty - the entire squad played well.
This next week is another quieter one - the main squad are off on pre-season camp ending with their first pre-season fixture, so I will be in and around SSP helping out with the ACAD and the injured players who are staying home to continue their rehab/preparations.
Hopefully next week I should be able to go a little more in-depth on what we do with injured players or ACAD, just to mix things up a bit.
Thanks for reading.
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