Northerns step up off-season program

Dave Nosworthy has not allowed the dust or cobwebs to collect in the Northerns dressingroom this winter, although for dressingroom read exercise room and gymnasium as he plots the pre-season programme.

Northerns new coach has wasted little time in take up the challenge to focus on the "Northerns 2000" campaign designed to turn the province into a leading force at provincial level in the country.

Apart from a "bonding session among all players" when he plans to take the squad on a weeklong visit to a country retreat with other senior team management as part of the pre-season evaluation programme, Nosworthy is looking for Northerns to play a number of "pre-season friendlies leading to the opening domestic game of the season".

From the way the tours have been scheduled is looks as though Northerns are to open their provincial campaign, possibly on October 6 with a home day/night match against one of the coastal sides.

"By the time we reach that point I hope that all the pre-season work will see us field a fit and highly motivated side," he said yesterday.

Apart from a September 11 deadline for the return of all contracted players now in England, Ireland or Scotland, Nosworthy plans a trip to the UK to check out the fitness form and other niggling problems bothering the squad members.

"It is important for me to get across to see the players and fill them in on what they need to know is happening at Northerns," he said. "I believe in keeping open the lines of communication, which is something we have not paid too much attention to in the past.

Nosworthy is likely to be accompanied by the team's fitness expert Robbie Walter, a qualified biokonetikist and who two years ago played a leading role in the Northerns Academy. The Northerns coach sees Walter's role as one of "major importance" in the lead up to and during the 2000/01 season as part of the overall strategy.

Walter is the first fulltime physical trainer to be employed by any province in South Africa and joined Northerns in this capacity at the start of the month after doing the job part time to handle the players fitness programme.

He is also an innovator in his own right and has a firm belief in "the importance of the need to be leaders and not copy from others".

This came come through strongly in the programme put together for the Northerns players as part of their net training sessions last season where part of the gym was moved into the nets to "liven up the training".

The philosophy behind this particular training programme was that warm up sessions are inclined to be bland and the players' thoughts switch off as they go through the skills without thinking about what they are doing. Now the accent is on tuning muscle control along with stimulating cardio-vascular and visual control.

"It means the players have a fitness and visual aspect to occupy their minds while leading, hopefully to increasing the concentrations levels," he said.

What has now happened is that Northerns are to build a preparation room next to the dressing room to help the side prepare for the day's play.