BulldogBelle
15-11-2007, 08:08 PM
A good article...
Bulldogs beef up (http://westernbulldogs.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/4112/Default.aspx?newsId=53278)
5:02 PM Thu 15 November, 2007 |
By Ben Broad
for westernbulldogs.com.au
WESTERN Bulldogs officials have upped their players’ pre-season weights schedules in a bid to have their pups taking the field on a level playing field in 2008.
Rival teams can expect a beefed-up Bulldogs outfit in 2008 as Rodney Eade’s side attempts to match it with the more hardened teams in the AFL.
Feeling they were pushed off the ball too easily at times last season, one of the Bulldogs’ main aims during the summer will be to add more meat to their quick, running players’ limbs – whilst maintaining speed and fitness.
That fine balance can be tough to pull off but so far the results look to be on track.
Star Daniel Cross, a prolific ball-winner around the packs, is among those at the club hoping to weigh in a little heavier when the season rolls around.
“The key over the break [for me] was to put on a bit of weight,” Cross said after scorching around the track on Thursday morning.
“I’ve put on a few kilos … they want me to play at about 87 [or] 88 kilograms this year so I’m up about that weight at the moment.
“During the season this year I was playing about 84, but they want me to play at about 87[kg] this year, just so I can mix it in closer even better and not get pushed off the ball as much.
“The hard thing is with that, doing so much running and cycling and our skills sessions and sweating it out all the time, is keeping the weight on but we’re all doing that really well.”
Cross said there had been more of an emphasis on weights in recent seasons at the Bulldogs, and that trend would continue in coming months.
“We’re doing five weights sessions a week, so that’s the key for us,” he said.
“[Last season] we were getting wrestled out of matches too easily, and so it’s all about being stronger and with that you’ve got to be fit as well, so running and getting bigger is a key part for us.”
Despite the Bulldogs being likely to field a more muscled-up unit next season, Cross doesn’t think that will alter the team’s fast, attacking game style.
Eade said after the side’s disappointing finish that opposition clubs, such as eventual premier Geelong, had adopted the Bulldogs’ style of play but had simply overtaken the Dogs.
Cross says his side must simply learn to better adapt to the flow of matches and change accordingly.
“That’s why [the coaches] wanted the young guys to come back so early, so we can get our base fitness and then we can work on different styles of play as well,” Cross said.
“[The fast, attacking game] is always going to be our Game A, but we need to work on our Game B, Game C and so on so when sides are playing well against us in that game style we can switch it up a bit.
“In the last two years that’s all we’ve known, and we’ve only practised something during the week, whereas if we can practise something during a pre-season and we’re fit enough to do that, then it’s going to help us during the year for sure.”
Bulldogs beef up (http://westernbulldogs.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/4112/Default.aspx?newsId=53278)
5:02 PM Thu 15 November, 2007 |
By Ben Broad
for westernbulldogs.com.au
WESTERN Bulldogs officials have upped their players’ pre-season weights schedules in a bid to have their pups taking the field on a level playing field in 2008.
Rival teams can expect a beefed-up Bulldogs outfit in 2008 as Rodney Eade’s side attempts to match it with the more hardened teams in the AFL.
Feeling they were pushed off the ball too easily at times last season, one of the Bulldogs’ main aims during the summer will be to add more meat to their quick, running players’ limbs – whilst maintaining speed and fitness.
That fine balance can be tough to pull off but so far the results look to be on track.
Star Daniel Cross, a prolific ball-winner around the packs, is among those at the club hoping to weigh in a little heavier when the season rolls around.
“The key over the break [for me] was to put on a bit of weight,” Cross said after scorching around the track on Thursday morning.
“I’ve put on a few kilos … they want me to play at about 87 [or] 88 kilograms this year so I’m up about that weight at the moment.
“During the season this year I was playing about 84, but they want me to play at about 87[kg] this year, just so I can mix it in closer even better and not get pushed off the ball as much.
“The hard thing is with that, doing so much running and cycling and our skills sessions and sweating it out all the time, is keeping the weight on but we’re all doing that really well.”
Cross said there had been more of an emphasis on weights in recent seasons at the Bulldogs, and that trend would continue in coming months.
“We’re doing five weights sessions a week, so that’s the key for us,” he said.
“[Last season] we were getting wrestled out of matches too easily, and so it’s all about being stronger and with that you’ve got to be fit as well, so running and getting bigger is a key part for us.”
Despite the Bulldogs being likely to field a more muscled-up unit next season, Cross doesn’t think that will alter the team’s fast, attacking game style.
Eade said after the side’s disappointing finish that opposition clubs, such as eventual premier Geelong, had adopted the Bulldogs’ style of play but had simply overtaken the Dogs.
Cross says his side must simply learn to better adapt to the flow of matches and change accordingly.
“That’s why [the coaches] wanted the young guys to come back so early, so we can get our base fitness and then we can work on different styles of play as well,” Cross said.
“[The fast, attacking game] is always going to be our Game A, but we need to work on our Game B, Game C and so on so when sides are playing well against us in that game style we can switch it up a bit.
“In the last two years that’s all we’ve known, and we’ve only practised something during the week, whereas if we can practise something during a pre-season and we’re fit enough to do that, then it’s going to help us during the year for sure.”