Hitting the ground running

• 19 Jul 2022

It’s not too often that pre-season in Glasgow begins in the midst of a veritable heatwave.

Yet that’s what welcomed Assistant Coach Nigel Carolan and the Warriors back to Scotstoun yesterday, as temperatures of 28 degrees Celsius provided an additional challenge for the start of block one.

The heat was no distraction from the task at hand, though, as the hard work got underway ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

“The most important thing is to hit the ground running in this first block,” Carolan told glasgowwarriors.org.

“We ended last season in a way that doesn’t reflect the true culture, values and work that goes on behind the scenes at this club, and we want to put that right.

“We’ve all had time to reflect and reset, and we’re all here wanting to kick things off with a bang. The players are already locked in to what we’re looking to do here – even after only a couple of sessions, you can tell the focus and determination is right where it needs to be.

“The boys have come in with a willingness to work hard, which is the foundation of this club. We want to get the best out of them and out of each other and that starts in this first block.”

With the club’s international contingent given time off after their summer tour commitments, a group of 28 players reported to the home of the Warriors on day one of the first block.

Five of the 2022/23 senior academy contingent are amongst those under the watchful eye of Carolan and his fellow Assistant Coaches, alongside new arrivals Sintu Manjezi, Allan Dell, JP du Preez and Sione Vailanu.

Factor in three players from Old Glory DC joining block one to gain valuable experience, and it’s a group featuring a fair few new faces that has been blowing off the cobwebs under the Scotstoun sun.

“We’re a very colourful and diverse mix of people here at this club already, so to have the new faces coming in only adds to that,” said Carolan.

“That’s really exciting for us. It’s also what makes it such an interesting place to come and work – whether it’s our Argentinians, New Zealanders, Australians or guys that were born and raised in Glasgow, it’s a great place to work.

“The boys from Old Glory only add to that and they’ve already shown so much eagerness and willingness to do the hard yards, they’ve got a great attitude.

“Our new academy intake, too, have come with a real hunger to improve and show what they’re all about.”

With the squad already getting stuck into the four-week block, the agenda for Carolan and company is clear.

“There are three things we want to hit in this block,” he explained.

“The first thing is that we want boys to apply themselves – whatever the session is, whether it’s a conditioning game, or static skills work, or a hard gym session, we want the boys to get stuck in.

“The second thing is for them to challenge themselves, and to challenge each other. Sometimes we can be a bit nice with each other, when we really want to challenge and grow as a club.

“The final thing is to enjoy each other’s company – yes there’s going to be hard work, but we want people to enjoy coming to work each day. That allows us to get the best out of each other and hopefully we can continue that going forward.

“If we do all of those things, then we’ll be in a really good position to keep that momentum going when the rest of our squad comes back together.”