The players will certainly remember their four days in regional Victoria this week in what has been a tough ‘training camp’. Football has not been on the program since Tuesday with the players enduring a series of activities, exercises and demands designed to test them individually and as a group.

Stealth Development is the group running the four day trip that commenced at the Scout Camp at Anglesea on the Victorian coast on Tuesday. Players were advised on how and where to find food and shelter on their first night at camp and were then woken in the middle of the night for some physical training. Wednesday morning was more team orientated activities in the bush surrounding the Scout Camp before returning to camp for lunch they had to prepare for themselves. Wednesday afternoon the activities commenced with a 15-minute walk to Point Addis beach for more ‘activities’, including boxing and other disciplines.

The other activities included 100 sit ups with each member of the team holding onto the heavy long rope that they had carried to the beach from the camp, 100 bicep curls again with the rope, 100 ‘burpees’, 100 squats and 100 dips. The dips were completed in pairs with one person in front using the legs of another player, who was in a squat position, as the anchor for the dips. In between these activities the players ran up and down the sand dunes. Then to finish the afternoon session the players all locked arms and stood in the water for 10 minutes while the waves crashed into their chests. The water was cold, the players even colder, the waves strong but the link was not broken.

A good meal on Wednesday evening was very welcome but not so the early start on Thursday morning. A 4.30am wake up and on the bus leaving for the Grampians in western Victoria by 5.00am. The bus stopped in Beaufort at the local bakery fro breakfast and following two days at camp one can only imagine what the staff at the bakery thought when the Carlton players walked in. The bus continued into the Wimerra to Hollow Mountain on the northern edge of the Grampians (near Dadswells Bridge). The players were given instructions on a number of activities including abseiling and climbing before tackling the 30-metre wall.

Thursday night is in Hall’s Gap before more physical activities, including rock climbing on a 100 metre climb, on Friday morning and then the trip back to Visy Park. Not surprisingly after a tough week the players will have the weekend off.

Peter Wickham of Stealth Development said the camp was designed around the key areas of Leadership, Teamwork, Fortitude and Discipline.

“It is all about fortitude, leadership and teamwork and the activities are designed to get them to think about the old fashioned core values to listen and learn.”

As part of ensuring the players are all equal and virtually stripping them of their identity they were not able to call each other by their names. Instead they were referred to by the colour and number on their bib; ‘Red 4’, ‘Green 2’ etc.

While there will be no benefit to the kicking or handballing skills from the four-day camp, the players will no doubt benefit both physically and mentally from this adventure in regional Victoria.