Thunder pre-season underway

PEEL’S campaign for 2016 is underway, with the Thunder’s senior squad commencing pre-season training this week.

The squad will train three nights a week before a break for Christmas.

Fresh from the club’s first League finals berth in its 19-year history, coach Cam Shepherd said a focus on conditioning would help the club take the next step.

“We recognise that we are really young squad, and to be competitive with the bigger and more mature bodied sides in the competition, we’ve got to compete physically, which is why the conditioning and weights are very important to us,” Shepherd said.

As well as conditioning, the players will undergo rigorous fitness testing and work on skills and structures.

Given the success with local players last year, the Thunder has identified a lot of talent after scouring the local leagues.

“We’re really excited with the players we’ve brought down [to train] from the local leagues, and we’re introducing a vast majority of the Colts who made the preliminary final last season,” Shepherd said.

 “Based on what we’ve seen so far, the synergy and the atmosphere within the group is really good, and we’d like to think we’re a club on the move.”