Weekly Training Reports from our players...

#4: Christmas time is upon us and the boys are eagerly counting down the days. We try to keep a steady pace but Mr Hodges insists on us working even harder and consistently pushes us to our limits. There is rarely time for relaxing these days. All the boys are really working hard and as a result we are receiving substantial physical and mental benefits. After each gym session on Wednesday and Thursday all the boys can't wait to get into the change rooms to check out their muscles, me included. Tuesday was fitness club and due to the wet weather Mr Hodges and staff had to make a few adjustments. But as Mr Hodges always insists, the show must go on - rain, hail or shine. We went into the school corridors to do our fitness. We ran from one end of the school to the other, up the stairs, down the stairs and back around. We also did sprints up the ramp that connects the two storeys. After that we than did some ab work and stretching, before going onto the oval to play some slippery Gaelic football. This Friday is our last session before we break up. We're all hoping it is just games but Mr Hodges is unpredictable and might just give us a bucket load of fitness instead. We just received our training program for the holidays. We were told we will be training Boxing Day and New Years Eve, this is obvious a test of our commitment (see below the holiday training dates). Not only have we been getting stronger and smarter these past few weeks, all the boys are developing a strong bond with each other which we will be taking as a secret weapon over to Japan.

Friday 26/12 8am – 10am
Monday 29/12 8am – 10am
Wednesday 31/12 8am – 10am
Monday 5/1 8am – 10am
Wednesday 7/1 8am – 10am
Friday 9/1 8am – 10am
Tuesday 20/1 8am – 10am
Thursday 22/1 8am – 10am

Merry Christmas... Jessey Rybicki

#3: Many weeks of enthusiasm and commitment in the school's gym has led to great gains in the strength of our rugby boys. The team has increased the weights and sets to challenge our growing muscles. All the boys physique's are changing, just ask them and they will show you. The new leg machines, which we got for free because the Marconi Club was throwing them away, have helped develop the strength in our legs. Before every gym session 25 minutes is devoted to core stability and flexibility. The stretching really hurts, but you feel good after you do it. Some of the boys couldn't even touch their toes when we started and now they can grab their foot. This is great and will only assist not only our playing potential, but also our general health and prevent injuries. In our last fitness club session, we ran through the main school building. This was fun, as normally we are not allowed to run in the buildings. We did four laps and than some sprints up the ramp. Just another tough and exhausting session from Mr Hodges. The team is going to have a much needed break from training. This will give our bodies the chance to recover before moving into the next phase of our training straight after Christmas.

Sopheap Morn

#2: It was another intense week for the Prairiewood Rugby team, but this week came with a different approach. Instead of having two weight sessions, Mr Hodges introduced a cardio session. The variation in the training session tested the team both physically and mentally. We started off the training session with two 100m shuttle runs, this task had to be completed under five minutes. Then we moved onto "Malcomes" (up downs) we had to do 2 sets of six. But the team dug really deep and showed tremendous courage and really impressed Mr Hodges.

The weights session was like any normal weights session. The team was again split into two and continued with their programs. Let me tell you something ladies, some of the boys are looking fine!

However, the weights session brought on a new experience for most of the boys. Whoever knew that tasting a protein shake for the first time could be so difficult. I don't know what was more disturbing the fact that some of the boys didn't even know what it was, or that FJ didn't realise that you don't eat the protein powder raw but you actually mix it more than twice with milk so you can drink it.

It's clear commitment and enthusiasm is definitely not lacking. Keep up the good work lads. Japan here we come!

Kane Clark#1: On Tuesday 28th October, our training for Japan started. You can say it's the start of something new, but it's the start of a new experience in each of our lives. Not only us players but our families and our school.

We can not remember how we were feeling on that particular morning, but all we had in our minds that it was training. We started off with the 1.6km time trial, which we will be tested again in the coming weeks. We then moved on to a circuit with 10 stations of different exercises eg push ups, squats, shuttles, sit ups and many more. After that we played Oz Tag and AFL, before finishing with some boxing. We did hooks, jabs, sprints, sit ups and my favourite pistons. This is where you sit back at 45 degrees and punch up above your head for a minute, your shoulders burn.

After this we all enjoyed a beautiful healthy breakfast of fresh fruit, toast, cereal and juice. The field sessions are part of Fitness Club, this is a before school fitness program for the whole school. We had over 130 students attend, this helps the team get motivated.

Wednesday and Thursday are our gym days, where we work on building muscular strength, core stability and flexibility. We split into two groups, working on different muscle groups. This helps spread the group and makes use of both the space and the limited equipment we have. One day is chest and shoulders and the next is back and legs.

Friday is again Fitness Club. This time we had over 140 students attend. It is great to see this many students get to school at 7am to exercise and get fit. But this was no ordinary session, this was when channel 7 came out and did a story on our team and what we have been doing. The boys were all very excited. At one stage we got seperated from the rest of the group and had to do some boxing exercises, which was harder than usual. Than we moved onto Oz Tag and soccer (which isn't our favourite). I think we should stick to Rugby. We than moved onto the circuit, changing exercises every minute.

The first week of training was hard for all of us, but just looking at the boys they all really want this. To represent our backgrounds, our families, our school, but most importantly our country. Yes this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but it's our only opportunity.

John Tanuvasa