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Wests Tigers don't have much time to recover
Date March 17, 2014 - 9:39PM
Brad Walter
Chief Rugby League Writer
Wests Tigers players will have just two light training sessions this week as they try to recover from playing in Sunday's furnace-like conditions on the Gold Coast in time for Friday night's clash with South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
One of only two teams to have been scheduled back-to-back mid-afternoon games in the opening two rounds, the Tigers have just a five day turnaround to prepare for their clash with a Rabbitohs team which played last Friday night and the previous Thursday night.
While Wests officials said they had been aware of the scheduling in advance and had planned accordingly, coach Michael Potter admitted the "short week makes it difficult given the drain with the heat".
"It was a tough day, 40 degrees was recorded on the field. They were tired after."
Potter said the focus of this week's preparation for the players would be on recovery - a process which began immediately after their 42-12 defeat of the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium.
With the temperature at Robina rising to 37 degrees on Sunday and Channel Nine recording 40.5 degrees on the sideline, Tigers players wore ice vests while on the interchange bench and the entire team had ice baths at full-time.
They were also booked on a 7pm flight in order to ensure they got to sleep the night in their own beds, although the plane was delayed at Coolangatta Airport for almost three hours.
After arriving in Sydney at about 11.30pm, the players were given Monday off from training and they will also have Wednesday off in a bid to help them freshen up for the home clash with Souths.
Potter will oversee a light session on Tuesday and another on Thursday before Friday night's match.
Gold Coast players will also have limited training this week as they prepare for Sunday's trip to Canberra but Titans chief executive Graham Annesley was equally concerned about the club's fans and said he would do "everything possible” to ensure no games next season were scheduled mid-afternoon.
Annesley said the Titans had requested they not be given home games during the day early in the season and Newcastle chief executive Matt Gidley also confirmed his club would have preferred Sunday night's match against Canberra to be played earlier.
"We would have happily traded timeslots yesterday with the Titans," Gidley said.
However, an NRL official said clubs usually preferred to be on free-to-air television and Channel Nine had chosen the Titans-Tigers game for its Sunday afternoon match after the draw was released late last year.
Annesley said: "While we can't do anything about the weather, I intend to continue to take up the issue of early-season day games with the NRL in an attempt to ensure this is not allowed to happen again.”
Annesley issued an an open letter to Gold Coast fans, apologising for the heat.
"I just want to acknowledge the oppressive conditions most of you had to endure throughout the afternoon,” Annesley wrote.
“With approximately 50 per cent of all seats in direct sunlight for the entire afternoon it is clearly not fair to members or casual fans.”
Date March 17, 2014 - 9:39PM
Brad Walter
Chief Rugby League Writer
Wests Tigers players will have just two light training sessions this week as they try to recover from playing in Sunday's furnace-like conditions on the Gold Coast in time for Friday night's clash with South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
One of only two teams to have been scheduled back-to-back mid-afternoon games in the opening two rounds, the Tigers have just a five day turnaround to prepare for their clash with a Rabbitohs team which played last Friday night and the previous Thursday night.
While Wests officials said they had been aware of the scheduling in advance and had planned accordingly, coach Michael Potter admitted the "short week makes it difficult given the drain with the heat".
"It was a tough day, 40 degrees was recorded on the field. They were tired after."
Potter said the focus of this week's preparation for the players would be on recovery - a process which began immediately after their 42-12 defeat of the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium.
With the temperature at Robina rising to 37 degrees on Sunday and Channel Nine recording 40.5 degrees on the sideline, Tigers players wore ice vests while on the interchange bench and the entire team had ice baths at full-time.
They were also booked on a 7pm flight in order to ensure they got to sleep the night in their own beds, although the plane was delayed at Coolangatta Airport for almost three hours.
After arriving in Sydney at about 11.30pm, the players were given Monday off from training and they will also have Wednesday off in a bid to help them freshen up for the home clash with Souths.
Potter will oversee a light session on Tuesday and another on Thursday before Friday night's match.
Gold Coast players will also have limited training this week as they prepare for Sunday's trip to Canberra but Titans chief executive Graham Annesley was equally concerned about the club's fans and said he would do "everything possible” to ensure no games next season were scheduled mid-afternoon.
Annesley said the Titans had requested they not be given home games during the day early in the season and Newcastle chief executive Matt Gidley also confirmed his club would have preferred Sunday night's match against Canberra to be played earlier.
"We would have happily traded timeslots yesterday with the Titans," Gidley said.
However, an NRL official said clubs usually preferred to be on free-to-air television and Channel Nine had chosen the Titans-Tigers game for its Sunday afternoon match after the draw was released late last year.
Annesley said: "While we can't do anything about the weather, I intend to continue to take up the issue of early-season day games with the NRL in an attempt to ensure this is not allowed to happen again.”
Annesley issued an an open letter to Gold Coast fans, apologising for the heat.
"I just want to acknowledge the oppressive conditions most of you had to endure throughout the afternoon,” Annesley wrote.
“With approximately 50 per cent of all seats in direct sunlight for the entire afternoon it is clearly not fair to members or casual fans.”
