Week 1
This week's diary entry is from National Training Squad member Vanessa Bradley.
Send messages of support to the Women’s National Training Squad as they prepare for the 2006 iRB Women's Rugby World Cup in Edmonton, Canada by emailing gowallaroos@rugby.com.au
Thursday, 4 May 2006
Hi Rugby Fans
Hello again and welcome to the next issue of the Women’s National Training Squad diaries.
This has been an exciting week for me as I’ve made great progress in my recovery from knee surgery and my rehabilitation team has set a date for me to get back out on the paddock.
There are also plenty of smiles this week in the Hunter region, after they won the NSW Country Championship in Orange over the weekend with many of the players gaining selection in the 2006 NSW Country team which will play in the 2006 National Championships in Sydney in July.
Southern South East Queensland took out the Queensland title in Brisbane and the Queensland squad for the Nationals has also been announced. These players have eight weeks of intense training in front of them before they head to Sydney.
In the first few weeks of state team training, the girls will get to know each other and learn the style of play the coaches are using. There may be injury assessments and fitness testing for players to complete as well. Drills at these sessions are more dynamic and are often designed to increase players’ mental speed. This means players can perform the skills of Rugby well and also think on their feet to identify when and where to execute these skills in order to score points or defend their line.
When representative players return to their clubs they will be looked upon as role models, especially for those players privileged enough to be in the Wallaroos squad. Their work ethic will inspire other players to lift to another level, as a Wallaroo treats every session as equally important, striving with commitment and dedication to do their best.
At this time, the girls will also be doing individual training sessions. It can be hard work doing all these sessions on your own, so to push myself, I imagine the coach is watching me, because you never take a shortcut while the coach is watching!
Thanks for your emails of support. I know myself and all the members of the squad look forward to receiving these so keep them up as there are now only 17 weeks left until the Wallaroos kick off their 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign against South Africa in Canada.
Until next week, enjoy your Rugby.
Vanessa Bradley
Member - 2006 Women's National Training Squad
Thursday, 27 April 2006
Hi Rugby Fans
My name is Vanessa Bradley and I play Rugby for Wests in Brisbane, Queensland. My position is tighthead prop and the part of that role I like the most is scrums.
I was introduced to Rugby by Mark “Whale” Hearnden, a prop who was one of my lecturers at university. I owe a lot of my Rugby success to Whale, who always wore different coloured socks, a tradition I’ve continued.
This week, the road to becoming a Wallaroo took an exciting turn. Until now, players have been doing a lot of strength and conditioning training, which is hard work. Players push themselves to their limits physically and mentally. Now we’ve played a few games and put into practice the skills we've learnt during our Wallaroo training sessions.
Over this coming weekend (29 and 30 April 2006) the Queensland and NSW Country Championships will be decided. With these representative games on our doorstep, players aspiring for Wallaroo selection are aware that the journey to the World Cup is well and truly underway. There is still a lot of hard work ahead, but some of the best things about playing Rugby are just beginning, such as playing in a team and touring with your teammates.
The goal of being a Wallaroo involves a lot of sacrifices. In addition to training, most of the squad is studying or working full time. Their Rugby commitments are delicately balanced between club, regional and national duties. There are recovery and physiotherapy sessions as well as weights and conditioning programs to be completed.
Sometimes it seems my whole life revolves around Rugby, but luckily I have a very supportive spouse who, along with my two small children, provides a balance between having fun and training hard.
I hope you’ll join me next week to find out which Queensland and NSW Country regions won their respective Championships for 2006.
See you at the footy!
Vanessa Bradley
2006 Women's National Training Squad
