Working in groups, the team completed a tough 10km orienteering assignment in the spectacular but unforgiving Arizona desert before taking off on a mountain bike trek through the towering red rock formations of Sedona.
Brown confident the entire group is working to capacity, saying the camps tough environment would hold them in good stead when they return to sea level and begin the 2013 campaign.
“I think in all these sessions that you do, the long hikes or the long bike rides, they go for a long time and you can easily fall into a little trap of just going through the motions and just rolling the legs over and just finishing, I think if you have that aim of wanting to be the best and wanting to really get the most out of yourself you always find a way to just push yourself a little bit harder or just go that little bit longer and just things like that you will know within yourself if you are working as hard as you possibly can and I think it all just builds up towards having a good pre season and then rolls into a game and into the next year and so forth.”
New High Performance Manager Stephen Schwerdt, eager to see where the playing group were at in regards to conditioning and mental strength set a relentless schedule during the camps first week, however was so impressed he rewarded the squad with a full day off following the mountain bike assignment.
“Dave Swallow and Dion Prestia are training really well, also Joel Wilkinson, it’s fantastic the way that the whole group has been going, but those guys have been standing out at the moment.”
Talented utility Jarred Brennan and Charlie Dixon also performed strongly in Sedona while the challenge was at times a little more painful for Brown.
“I fell backwards into a cactus which wasn’t great, I am still trying to pull the prickles out of my backside.”
“The mountain bike riding was pretty tough, I’m not a great rider and it was a pretty technical course that we did some guys really enjoyed it and really attacked the course, some guys that weren’t as good a riders were at the back, just trying to survive.”
