The Gold Coast SUNS brutal pre-season training program received a resounding tick of approval on Tuesday morning, with all participants in the club’s 2km time-trial recording personal best performances.
 
In humid conditions at Griffith University, second-year defender Kade Kolodjashnij continued his eye-catching pre-season by leading home the field.
 
Alex Sexton and mature-aged rookie Josh Glenn were hot on the Tasmanian’s heels for the duration of the five lap event, with vice-captain David Swallow and recent draftee Touk Miller rounding out the top-five.
 
Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade was thrilled with the progress of the entire group and explained the exemplary results were testament to the level of work put in by the playing group during the summer months at Metricon Stadium.
 
“I think the times today reflected about the hard work that we’ve done over the pre-season,” Eade told SUNS TV.
 
“We had 30 guys run today; all of them ran a PB which is fantastic, some by ten seconds, some by 30 or 40 seconds. I think there’s a real great deal of positivity from today.
 
“We’ve still got another 12 to 13 players to be do it, some of the long-term rehab who have had operations over the pre-season, some who’ve got some niggles at the moment. All in all we’re really happy with where the players are at.”
 
Prior to Eade’s unveiling as the SUNS' new coach in October, the club made the decision to remain on the Gold Coast instead of going ahead with a pre-season altitude training camp in Arizona.
 
The opportunity to spend a greater amount of time learning the new coach’s football philosophy and game style, coupled with the opportunity to train in the Gold Coast heat, were cited as the main reasons at the time.
 
The physical benefits of training in hot and humid conditions have led a handful of southern-based clubs to relocate for training camps in warmer climates in pursuit of aerobic gains this pre-season. Due to the club’s location, the SUNS are forced to train in brutal heat and humidity on a daily basis; something Eade recognises as highly beneficial for the players' conditioning.
 
“It’s interesting, having returned here after 25 years away you actually forget the effect of the humidity and the heat. It does take a lot out of you,” Eade said.
 
“There’s obviously the debate between altitude and heat as well, and I’m not a scientific person, but if they are equal in advantage as far as giving you a fitness hit, having that in our back door, and being able to have our football training here on our ground and do our game plan and touch the balls, its just fantastic to have that resource here.
 
“The fact that our players do their weights in the afternoon in a fairly big shed that has no air conditioning, that’s another hit of the heat as well. I think some people say it’s a 10 to 15 per cent advantage in the heat and humidity. I think the players are starting to see the benefit of that.”