It was “back to basics” for the Gold Coast SUNS this morning with goal kicking and handballing the main focus for Friday’s light skills session.

With the squad split into two groups, GC SUNS Head Coach Guy McKenna led the squad through a series of tough circuits, designed to test the player’s kicking and handballing techniques under pressure.

The lighter training session a rewarding refresher for the squad who have endured another tough week on field under the gaze of High performance Manager Stephen Schwerdt.

“We’re constantly looking for new ways to challenge the playing group ahead of this month’s NAB Cup tournament,” Schwerdt said.  

The first challenge involved the group taking set-shots from a number of positions around the 50m arch under the watchful eye of development coaches Ben Matthews and Andrew Johnston.

Towering ruckman Zac Smith and developing key forward Sam Day performed well under pressure with the pair impressing AFL Legend and GC SUNS coaching director Malcolm Blight.

Handballing also received detailed focus during today’s session with Matthew Primus challenging the players to execute one of the games key skills in contact simulation.

It wasn’t all fundamental training for the squad though, with GC SUNS High Performance Manager Stephen Schwerdt managing to find time to arrange a slightly-competitive game of soccer, eager to see how the boys adapted to the round ball.

Speaking exclusively with goldcoastfc.com.au, Schwerdt said changing the training environment challenged the players both mentally and physically.

“Simply throwing in a soccer ball seems to revitalise the players and keeps them interested in the training program,” said Schwerdt.

“In Arizona, we tried experimenting with tennis balls and volleyballs, but the boys seem to get more of a kick out of the soccer ball.”