Hot, hard and tough: Titans pre-season by the numbers
"It's been tough, it's been hot, and we are working hard."
That was what Chris Randall thought of Des Hasler's first pre-season on the Gold Coast in the opening month and the intensity has only skyrocketed as the 458-game coach aims to get the Titans back playing finals in 2024.
Hot, hard and tough have been the three buzzwords heard at Parkwood during the new mentor's tenure, bringing the old-school art of tough love to raise the playing standards to heights beyond the squad’s expectation.
"He's brought a harder edge to our training… I think the standard of training and the quality has definitely been raised," Randall added.
The players are fast approaching the conclusion of their three month regime and pre-season statistics are finally emerging to show just how much has been put into such an important period of time before the 2024 NRL Telstra Premiership starts.
Running: 220+ kilometres
If the Titans decided to run from Parkwood to their trial game against the Dolphins at Sunshine Coast Stadium, they would still have 54 kilometres left in the tank before they reached their total running distance this pre-season, totalling more than 220 kilometres across the last few months.
Match: Dolphins v Titans
Round 1 -
home Team
Dolphins
7th Position
away Team
Titans
10th Position
Venue: Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast
With new speed records set amongst the playing group, its undeniable the running has paid off in dividends. Keano Kini topped the squad charts at a speed of 35.3 kilometres per hour in December, with his fullback mentor AJ Brimson tailing him by only a fraction, clocked at 35.1 km/h.
“The system that we've got has focussed on a lot more on specific things like speed and fitness. I reckon the speed training this year will not just help the backs but the forwards as well." fellow outside back Jojo Fifita explained.
Field: 50+ sessions
110 hours.
That is the total time the Titans squad has spent on the field training, continuing to battle for their position on the paddock. Both forwards and backs have been running at various positions on both the left and right to enhance their versatility and amplify the squad’s depth.
“All the backs are learning both sides and there’s plenty of competition there… it brings out the best in everyone,” Brian Kelly said.
From the veteran players to the fresh out-of-school talent, everyone knew from day one every spot in the 30-man roster was to be earned undisputedly, demanding them to push their mental and physical limits across 50+ field sessions.
"With Des here... no one is guaranteed a position. Everyone has to work hard and all the younger boys are pushing us older ones,” Erin Clark explained.
Weights: 40 gym sessions
Hasler has made it abundantly clear the physical standard needs to be raised in order to be back in the playoffs, and it already showed signs of success all the way back in November 2023.
Titans head of physical performance Cameron Ferguson was extremely pleased in the earlier blocks of pre-season training, praising the efforts from the younger train-and-trial players joining with the main squad.
For every field session, the squad has had a respective gym session accounted for throughout their pre-season campaign, with over 40 gym sessions completed since November.
As proof of the premiership-winning coach's method to the 'madness', football and high performance staff have seen players reach new personal records in strength, speed and fitness, showing all the talk of intensity is more than beneficial to their ability.
Bring on Round 1!
Pre-season by the numbers
- 12 weeks of training
- 110 hours on field across 50+ sessions
- Over 220 kilometres of running
- 40+ gym sessions
- 20+ tackle technique sessions
