Melbourne Rebel’s Strength and Conditioning Coach Shane Lehane says players have returned to the club in great shape despite the recent two-month quarantine.
Players arrived back at club headquarters today for the first time since mid-March, as the club prepares for the potential restart of season 2020.
“The boys have come back in great condition, which is pleasing to see.
“It’s probably the longest time away we’ve had as a playing group.
“A lot of the guys came back this morning and we started with some testing and a lot of the guys scored very, very well.
“There’s always a little bit of apprehension after coming back from such a long break but the boys have returned in really good shape, which is pleasing to see.”
Despite the isolation, communication between players and conditioning staff remained strong – a big reason why the club’s first day back proved so successful.
“Obviously guys had a bit to juggle with personal situations, but they were great at keeping in touch.
“We provided programs from a strength and conditioning perspective and then worked with them individually to make sure everything fitted into their daily schedules.
“The boys have returned in good shape, so it’s really pleasing they’ve adhered to the training programs we gave them.”
There were a number of strong performances on day one, including scrum-half Ryan Louwrens, who recorded a personal best (4:16) during the club's gruelling Bronco time trials.
Rounding out the top three among the backs were Frank Lomani and Tom English, while Josh Kemeny led the way for the forwards, followed closely by Michael Wells and Brad Wilkin.
“Ryan Louwrens had a personal best 1.2 kilometre run with a club record and a lot of our big boys in the front row also scored quite well with personal bests.
“Josh Kemeny from the forwards was a standout as well but generally the scores have been very good across the board.
“Definitely Ryan Louwrens was the standout this morning."
