Thursday was going to be an “easier day” – at least it was on paper. All of the playing group were going to be doing community visits, leaving the day open for the rest of us to whatever needed to be done. Well, what needed to be done started with a gym session at 7am and continued on.

It included:

meeting with the NTIS re cooling program for the players on Saturday night
arranging the rosters for massage, physiotherapy for the players…

The logistics of co-ordinating the All Stars Team is huge. There are about 60 players here in Darwin and all of them are completing the leadership program each day from 8.30 – 4pm. In addition to this they are also doing the required team training and additional work as required by their respective AFL clubs.

When I was involved at Club level (Essendon Football Club 1998 – 2008), one of the biggest frustrations I had with this type of initiative was…

Well after plenty of preparation time, the squad arrived in Darwin today for the 2009 All Stars Camp and Australian Football League game against the Adelaide Crows. Players have been invited from every AFL club in Australia to participate in this initiative and as the camp starts there are just over 60 indigenous players from every part of Australia here.

Once all players had arrived introduction meetings were held that outlined the aims and objectives of the camp and the benefits…

With so many people in India – and an unemployment rate I am told of about 50% – manual labour is very common here. At the cricket grounds, hordes of people will manually clean the stadium in readiness for the next game; groups of women will sweep the ground looking for any foreign objects or to replace divets caused by the previous game. Away from cricket and it is the same – manual labour for building; for cleaning; for repairs.…

Just a quick update to let everyone know that John is safe and sound and not exposed to the terrorist actions taking place in Mumbai. He isn’t actually in Mumbai – he is in another city 400km away and security has been beefed up significantly in the area, including extra security with his ICL team.

Thanks to all those who have rung and sent emails/text messages. I am in Ahmedabad which is some way from Mumbai. Of course, terrorism has no…

The first of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) final games was won by the Lahore Badshahs. The stadium was absolutely packed with the majority seemingly supporting the Pakistan based team. The Hyderabad Heroes put in a good game, but were simply out played on the night. We were given seats in the VIP area of the stands and as such had an excellent view of the game. At the end of the first innings we made our way inside for…

Well, glorious uncertainty or not, our final series game was quite clear. The Lahore Badshahs were far too good on the night, beating the Dhaka Warriors by 5 wickets. Even the slim chance the following night that Lahore would be beaten by Chennai, thus allowing Dhaka to go into the finals on percentage, proved very optimistic. Lahore beat Chennai by an even greater margin (6 wickets) than when they played Dhaka.

For the Warriors, the season has come to a close.…

I remember reading about the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. The people that were trapped in the floors above the point of impact gradually came to realise that their chances of getting out of the building alive were remote. They began to call family and friends. These calls were taped. Of the hundreds of phone calls that were made in those hours before the towers finally collapsed, not one was a message of hate. All…

We flew out of Chandigarh bound for Ahmedabad via Mumbai – about a 3 hour flight to the south. I had myself prepared for this long and drawn out flight, when not long into the journey I realised that I had one of the best seats on the plane. You see, I was seated on the left hand side of the plane and had “lucked” a window seat. From my prestigious seat, I had a true birds eye view of…

You can feel the excitement and air of expectancy building with this team. On the morning of the game against Chandigarh Lions, I open my door to find 13 of the 14 urine samples waiting to be tested. I know that it is a long bow to pull, but you know as a fitness coach when the players do this that they are motivated. They are switched on and ready for the game to start. After breakfast I take the…