Moimoi takes to triathlon hoping to be a smash hit again
GLENN JACKSON
February 13, 2010
FUIFUI MOIMOI once famously told former South Sydney coach Paul Langmack, ''I play 10 minutes, I train 10 minutes'', before walking off the training ground.
How things have changed. Moimoi, the most destructive forward in the competition last season, is now doing triathlons on top of his normal training routine.
Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson wanted to give Moimoi more time to come up with his own brand of on-field carnage this year, and as a result handed the prop a pre-season training regime to test even the fittest in the NRL in a bid to achieve that goal.
For six weeks Moimoi has risen every Monday at 5am to start a 6am triathlon, consisting of a four-kilometre run, a 20km bike ride and a one-kilometre swim. All followed by a normal day of training.
''To get up at five o'clock to get ready
it's hard,'' Moimoi said. ''But it's a part of training. You know you have to do it. And it'll start paying off on the field.''
Moimoi would complete a lap of Parramatta Park, the precinct surrounding Parramatta Stadium, which is about four kilometres. Five laps on the bike would follow, finished off with a cool 20 laps of the 50-metre pool, each timed to a minute.
''The coach wanted me to work really hard on my fitness,'' Moimoi said. ''It's been good so far. I found it hard at the start - I'm not really good at swimming but when I started to get used to it, it's getting better and better.
''Fitness is really hard, but if you do it every day you get used to it and keep getting fitter.''
Moimoi has been recorded on a GPS as covering another eight kilometres during the 80-minute field sessions that have followed his early morning triathlons, wearing heavy, padded training gear and with some collisions into the bargain. On top of that, there is the afternoon weights session.
He was handed the regime after missing the first portion of Parramatta's off season as a result of touring Britain and France with New Zealand. He returned in good shape but about four kilos heavier than Anderson would have preferred.
But the silver lining could be that Moimoi's damaging charges might be seen for longer periods this season. ''Anyone would want him to play longer,'' Anderson admitted. ''I'm just making sure they all give themselves every opportunity to have a successful season.''
While he is currently playing much more than the 10 minutes a match he did at Souths, when he famously walked off the training paddock, he still wants more.
''It depends on the coach and it depends on how fit I am,'' said Moimoi, who rated the off-season as the toughest he had experienced. ''But hopefully I'll be spending more time on the field. The fitter you get - that's when it starts paying off when you're playing.''
Although, he doesn't want to lessen the impact of his charges, which he says are ''good fun''.
The Dragons may be given the first glimpse of the fitter Fuifui, with him a chance of playing in the Eels' first trial of the year, tomorrow in Perth.
Anderson won't put pressure on the 30-year-old and predict an improvement on last season, during which he became a cult figure because of his frenzied bursts, but he said: ''I can't say exactly what's going to happen, but I fully expect him to put himself in a position to do it.''
Whether he has improved in the pool, though, is queried by his coach, who compared Moimoi to another cult figure and famous Eel.
''I wouldn't say he's going to be challenging any record times,'' Anderson said.
''Maybe Eric [the Eel] Moussambani's got a record Fui may contest.''
