Welcome to Brumbies Buzz, a bi-weekly look at all things happening here at Brumbies HQ during the 2017/18 Pre-Season.
Week Four of the Pre-Season is underway up at Brumbies HQ and with just one week left before the Christmas Break the players are being out through their paces at a rigorous rate.
LOOKING SHARP
Whilst much of the action on the pitch has seen the boys continue their loading heading into the Christmas break, there’s been a notable change.
That’s because the players have been kitted out in a brand-new set of training jersey’s.
The new kit, supplied by Classic, has been well-received by the players who are enjoying the comfort of the fit and the new colour scheme.
Not to be left out the coaches have also grabbed a new bag of swag and the best news is that supporters will be able to purchase these training kits in the new year.
UNUSUAL VISITORS
Earlier in the week it was former All Blacks and current Wallabies Skills Coach Mick Byrne who stopped by for pre-season training.
Thursday however, saw a different kind of visitor.
A large grey kangaroo was spotted making the training pitch his home, at one stage standing stock still around forty metres from goal and ten in from the touchline as if he was lining up a place-kick a la Wharenui Hawera or Christian Lealiifano.
He/she only hung around for a while, obviously dreaming of donning the jersey at GIO Stadium, but was more welcome than the Brown Snake who rocked up for last year’s pre-season build-up!
STANDOUT PERFORMER
Young lock Darcy Swain has certainly been in great form in pre-season and, as the sessions turned to set-piece work later in the week, has been confidently calling line-outs and dominating in the air.
Swain had an excellent John I Dent Cup with the Tuggeranong Vikings in 2017 and took that form into the National Rugby Championship.
With Sam Carter, Rory Arnold, Richie Arnold and Blake Enever also in the second row, it’s fair to suggest that the Brumbies are well stocked in that area.
SESSION NOTES
Our large contingent of non-contract players have been part of the pre-season training build-up and have reportedly been impressing the coaching staff with their skills and commitment.
Could we see some of these in the full squad sooner rather than later?
There’s been an uplift in the amount of contact drills with ball in hand this week and the players have enjoyed getting stuck in and blasting in with some hard hits.
