Waratahs keen on 2008 revival

[Burgs]

Waratahs keen on 2008 revival

21/12/2007 12:43:33 PM
Steve Orme
Sportal

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie remains confident his side is well-positioned to rebound from its disappointing 13th-place finish in 2007.

The Waratahs have endured seven weeks of pre-season training culminating with a gruelling two-hour session on the sand hills at Wanda Beach in Sydney's south on Friday.

And with the players now enjoying a brief break over the festive season - including the seven members of the Wallabies World Cup squad who rejoined the team at the beginning of December - McKenzie believes preparations are ahead of schedule in comparison with previous campaigns.

"It been an unusual end of the year because we don't usually have the Wallabies back (in December) so having their contribution - it's been a new experience for them," McKenzie said.

"Some of the activities we've done have been traditional activities and they haven't been there before so it's been a great squad experience."

"We had a camp the other week that sort of got everyone on the same page so there's a lot of things that I feel we're ahead of where we normally are."

The players will re-assemble early in the new year in preparation for their first trial match against familiar foes the Queensland Reds on Australia Day.

Asked how preparations will differ post-Christmas, McKenzie revealed: "We will have a significant shift in focus, it's been very much strength and conditioning (so far) but we've been working on core skills and some basic understanding things in terms of patterns of play."

"What we'll be doing is really testing our systems out under pressure and ramping up the contact and the physical side of it."

"I'm pretty happy - the trick with these things is not to go too hard too early so you've got to time your run."

With the 2008 season set to feature a range of experimental laws similar to those trialled in the recent Australian Rugby Championship, McKenzie expects rival coaches to think outside the square.

And while he admits developing a gameplan around the new laws has proven quite challenging he said the need to continually adapt is nothing new.

"I definitely think that some of the great minds that are floating around in the competition will have some obtuse ways of using the laws so we've got to try and anticipate what that is," he said.

"But we've got our own strategies there, it'll be very interesting in the first four weeks to see who turns up with what and how fast you can adapt and change."

[chook]

They are hella sexy too!

[jazza93]

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie remains confident his side is well-positioned to rebound from its disappointing 13th-place finish in 2007.

haha nice one Ewen!

[JediKnight]

They wouldn't want to get any worse, would they? Then they'd be on a par with the Reds!!!

[GIGS20]

Can there be JOINT wooden spoons?

I guess if both teams don't score a point all season they would have nothing to go on, wouldn't they then look at points for and against (well against)