Warriors ditch captain's run as part of new approach

The Warriors will throw the traditional captain's run concept out the window in 2020 as part of a handful of changes relating to how they structure their week leading into an NRL game.  

The revamp is being spearheaded by the club's new head of performance Craig Twentyman and aims to improve player health and longevity across the season.

This year the Warriors will hold their most physically demanding sessions through the early and middle part of the week, before easing off towards game day.

As part of that the captain's run – typically made up of a game-scenario field session with contact – will be replaced by a walk-through led by skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, with the focus on fine-tuning specifics for the upcoming game through discussions rather than actions.  

As the name suggests it will all be done at walking pace, with players held back from doing anything at high intensity.

"Some of the boys won't even put boots on [for the walk-through]. It's that sort of light loading," Twentyman told pan66.com.

"During the walk-through the edges will break out, the spine will get together and chat… the group will be together as well and Roger will walk them around and talk about different points of attack and defence.

"They'll just make sure they are right in their heads, because at that stage the physical side of things is covered.

"You are not going to get any benefit out of running guys into the ground at that stage of the week."

The walk-through concept on game day eve is standard practice in the NFL, while Twentyman said it's also been used by other NRL clubs in the past.   

The NSW Blues are also known to have used walk-throughs as part of their preparation for State of Origin matches.

The new role in Auckland is Twentyman's first in rugby league following 12 years with Rugby Australia, where among other things he worked with the Wallabies at last year's Rugby World Cup and helped prepare the Australian women's sevens team at the Rio Olympics.

He brings a different approach to that of renowned tough trainer Alex Corvo – who he replaced at Warriors at the end of 2019 – with NZ-born Twentyman prioritising speed and mobility work over grueling endurance sessions.   

Among other things that meant ditching the club's longstanding tradition of slogging it out on the towering sand dunes of Auckland's Bethells Beach this pre-season.

"I'm trying to create an environment that players look forward to coming into each day," Twentyman said.

"The output that you get from a footy player, especially with ball in hand, is far greater than the output that you are going to get necessarily from running a 600-metre or a 1500-metre or a bronco over and over.  

"You have got to make sure that they are fresher more often than not."

Such methods are untried and unproven at the Warriors, and nobody at club HQ, especially Twentyman, is promising it will mean improvements in the win column this year.

But if 311-game forward Adam Blair is anything to go by, the playing group are embracing it so far.

"I think it's been the most enjoyable and exciting pre-season I have had for a long time," Blair said.

"I guess just the freshness of it, the new ideas, the new thoughts, the new way we are training.

"I have had 15 years of tough and grinding pre-seasons and I came back earlier than normal – I'm normally back in January but was back in December [this time] – and I'm really just embracing what our new strength and conditioner Craig is doing."

After taking part in this week's NRL Nines in Perth, the Warriors have their first trial against the Storm in Palmerston North on February 22 before facing the Tigers in Rotorua a week later.