BETFRED League 1 leaders Hunslet aim to hit the ground running in their promotion bid as and when Rugby League returns to action following the coronavirus lockdown.
All sports clubs are facing problems in organising training, given the government’s ban on group gatherings, and the Parksiders’ Head Coach Gary Thornton has therefore provided every member of his squad with a fitness programme to work through in the comfort of their own homes.
Thornton and his staff are confident that the players will adhere to the programme, and that they will collectively emerge from the suspension of fixtures as fit as they can be.
Halfback Dom Brambani has long been renowned as one of the fittest players, and hardest trainers, in Rugby League – and he is determined to stay in peak condition, no matter how long the pandemic may last.
He said: “I don’t have a gym at home – that’s been a topic of discussion with the missus – but I’ve got `free weights’ and I’m working hard on those.
“I’m lucky to have a decent-sized garden, with artificial grass down, and fortunately the weather’s pretty good right now, so I’m able to spend some quality time training outside.”
Bambino, as he is universally known, is also spending time road-running in a weighted vest – and there will be compelling evidence as to whether he has been slacking at all if his daughters (Miley, who is seven, and Matilda, who is three) who sometimes accompany him, beat him to the finishing line, even if that’s unlikely on his regular 3km course.
He said: “The players are in a wats-app group and we’re helping support each other.
“It’s human nature that some people are more self-motivated than others, so we’re all encouraging each other as much as we can.
“It’s very important that we’re ready for the resumption, whenever that will be. Hopefully there’ll be a mini preseason, but there might not be, so we have to be in great condition.
“We’ve got something good going on at Hunslet, this could be a big season, and we can’t let the coronavirus hinder us. I don’t think it will, we’ve a top group of blokes at the South Leeds Stadium and we’re all buying into what GT’s asking of us.”
