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New St George Illawarra coach Steve Price to emulate Broncos' policy of resting players during Origin
Origin rest: St George Illawarra Dragons coach Steve Price. Picture: Gregg Porteous. Source: The Daily Telegraph
AFTER watching his club suffer an Origin hangover last season, new St George Illawarra coach Steve Price could follow Brisbane's lead and preserve star players during the brutal representative stretch.
Price made some valuable observations as Wayne Bennett ran training sessions with only a handful of regulars at various stages last season.
With up to eight players away on Origin duty, St George Illawarra fell apart in the middle of the season thanks to the discontinuity and they could not defend their title.
They were eliminated in an epic semi-final against the Broncos, whose rookie coach Andrew Griffin employed a policy of not backing-up Origin and Test players.
"You'd like to have as many players possible playing on the biggest stage," Price said. "I can't stipulate exactly what's going to happen now, because we're more concentrating on our fitness before Christmas and the rep season is a long way off.
"But I did learn some valuable lessons watching and observing the players during that period last year.
"I would certainly look at it and maybe do some things differently. It was tough. It was an extremely difficult period. Do you stand a few blokes down or rest them?
"That worked pretty well for Brisbane, but it also depends on the personnel you've got available."
Recognising last season's toll, Price ordered a 50-day break before pre-season training began - the longest in recent memory at the joint-venture club.
Test and NSW winger Brett Morris, who resumed restricted running two weeks ago after breaking his ankle in the Brisbane loss, agreed lessons needed to be taken from 2011.
"Some weeks there would only be five or six regular first-graders at training," he said.
"That takes a toll.
"From backing-up myself, I know that physically and mentally it's difficult.
"And it makes it even more harder when you're not winning. It's up to the individual if they agree (to be stood down from club games).
"There was a time I backed up last year not feeling the best and I tweaked my hammy. That kept me out for a few more weeks, so you learn from that."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/new-st-george-illawarra-coach-steve-price-to-emulate-brisbane-broncos-policy-of-resting-players-during-origin/story-e6frexnr-1226224667911
- by: Josh Massoud
- From: The Sunday Telegraph
- December 18, 2011 12:00AM
Origin rest: St George Illawarra Dragons coach Steve Price. Picture: Gregg Porteous. Source: The Daily Telegraph
AFTER watching his club suffer an Origin hangover last season, new St George Illawarra coach Steve Price could follow Brisbane's lead and preserve star players during the brutal representative stretch.
Price made some valuable observations as Wayne Bennett ran training sessions with only a handful of regulars at various stages last season.
With up to eight players away on Origin duty, St George Illawarra fell apart in the middle of the season thanks to the discontinuity and they could not defend their title.
They were eliminated in an epic semi-final against the Broncos, whose rookie coach Andrew Griffin employed a policy of not backing-up Origin and Test players.
"You'd like to have as many players possible playing on the biggest stage," Price said. "I can't stipulate exactly what's going to happen now, because we're more concentrating on our fitness before Christmas and the rep season is a long way off.
"But I did learn some valuable lessons watching and observing the players during that period last year.
"I would certainly look at it and maybe do some things differently. It was tough. It was an extremely difficult period. Do you stand a few blokes down or rest them?
"That worked pretty well for Brisbane, but it also depends on the personnel you've got available."
Recognising last season's toll, Price ordered a 50-day break before pre-season training began - the longest in recent memory at the joint-venture club.
Test and NSW winger Brett Morris, who resumed restricted running two weeks ago after breaking his ankle in the Brisbane loss, agreed lessons needed to be taken from 2011.
"Some weeks there would only be five or six regular first-graders at training," he said.
"That takes a toll.
"From backing-up myself, I know that physically and mentally it's difficult.
"And it makes it even more harder when you're not winning. It's up to the individual if they agree (to be stood down from club games).
"There was a time I backed up last year not feeling the best and I tweaked my hammy. That kept me out for a few more weeks, so you learn from that."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/new-st-george-illawarra-coach-steve-price-to-emulate-brisbane-broncos-policy-of-resting-players-during-origin/story-e6frexnr-1226224667911
