The players started to arrive at Visy Park from just prior to 7:00am for the 7:30am team meeting before getting ready for a training session at 9:30am. This session is the start of a busy day for the players with testing and various activities including a weights session.
Bryce Gibbs spoke with the media prior to the skills session on Visy Park and said it was great to be back with the rest of the team at Visy Park preparing for the challenges of 2012.
“We have to keep improving and that means a top four finish next year,” Gibbs said prior to the first training session at Visy Park.
“We know that it is a real challenge as every team aims to continue to improve and earn a top four finish. We are confident that our improvement in recent years will continue and there will be plenty of improvement from within the group to ensure we reach our goals in 2012.”
Gibbs said the recent pre-season training camp in Qatar and Abu Dhabi was a great success physically and mentally for everyone.
“Qatar was all about training. Training in the heat and sleeping at altitude at one of the best sporting facilities in the world. It was tough physically and being together for two weeks really brought everyone even closer together,” Gibbs said.
The benefits of the Qatar training will be ongoing for the players with the Carlton Sports Science team conducting tests on heat and altitude training to provide the best preparations for the individual players for 2012 and beyond.
Gibbs said the second leg of the pre-season training camp, a week in Abu Dhabi staying at Emirates Palace, was the ideal finish to the camp.
“In Abu Dhabi we trained really hard every morning and then had the opportunity to enjoy some of the local attractions in the afternoon. It was great to experience a different culture together and Abu Dhabi is certainly a great place to visit.”
From today it is back to Visy Park and the pre-Christmas training program as the Carlton players prepare themselves for the 2012 season.
Click here to view photos from this morning's training session.
