Port's New Zealand adventure

blackdiamond

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courtesy of www.portadelaidefc.com.au

Port's New Zealand adventure



A party of 57 Port Adelaide players, coaches and fitness/medical staff has flown to New Zealand for a high-powered three-day training camp designed to stretch mental and physical resources.

The so-called ‘adventure’ camp is in the Rangitata region about 60-90 minutes out of Christchurch on the south island.

General-fitness, team-bonding and leadership-identifying exercises will include running in a forest, mountain-bike riding in a gorge, hiking in mountain ranges, kayaking, white-water rafting and a demanding high-ropes course.

The Port party flew to Christchurch on Tuesday, will spend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday enduring the ‘torture’ tests and will do some exercise with footballs early on Saturday before flying to Sydney, where it will spend the night, before arriving back in Adelaide on Sunday morning.

Port coach Mark Williams said he thought it was ‘wonderful’ that the club had seen fit to provide the opportunity to go to New Zealand.

“The players have to pay half the money – and the coaches as well – but we’ve all thought it’s something worthwhile and we’ll get something more out of it by going to New Zealand,” he said. “It’s somewhere different so we’re looking forward to it.

“We really don’t get too much time to spend together. It’s normally on the job, but now we’ll get four or five days together where we can have some enjoyment and socialising.

“But, at the same time, there are a lot of challenges there that they’ve never seen before. There’ll be a bit of apprehension about some of the challenges and a little bit of deprivation of sleep and food and all those things that might just add to the mix.

“You have to work your way through it and obviously some of the leadership skills of different people will shine through.”

Asked if the sleep deprivation applied to the coaches, too, Williams quipped: “If you’ve got four kids (as he has), you’ve always got that. Yeah, we’re all doing the activities so we look forward to it.”

Was he concerned that it could all be a bit too tough, even dangerous?

“Some of the events are bordering on dangerous but we try to eliminate as much as possible,” Williams said.

“To get the thrill of the event, you have to push it as far as you can. We’ve got people leading the party who are experienced in these areas and we’ll just see what they say.

“We’re putting it in the hands of a company down there and some people are going to facilitate it. That adds to the excitement of it as well. No one can get too much of the details. I think in the end you really achieve more when you don’t know what it’s about.

“There’s white-water rafting, which is dangerous, especially in those big waters in New Zealand, and there’s some hikes over a very steep, dangerous mountain.

“It’s a volcanic mountain that you have to kind of slide down the other side! It takes 30 minutes to come down so I look forward to that! There’s also high-ropes courses, there’s mountain-bike riding …

“We’ll be having debriefs every night and a major one at the end. That’ll be continued on through the pre-season.”

Asked if it would be an alcohol-free trip, Williams said: “We’re about training. This is our training mode. There’ll be a little bit of (free) time one night, but apart from that, everyone will be switched on to making sure we’re looking after our fitness and health.

“And we’ll have a bit of a kick over there on Saturday morning. Three weeks ago we started (training). The guys are really going and are really excited about it all.

“There are a lot of opportunities for players to take positions (in the team). Probably three or four positions are up for grabs and about 10 players, even the new ones, are all jockeying for those positions. So there’s going to be keen competition in this club.”

Port captain Matthew Primus said: “The boys are looking forward to it. I don’t think the coaches are too keen.

“It’s something different. It breaks up the pre-season and hopefully we can get a bit out of the group, not only with the dangerous bit but also a bit of leadership, too.”
 

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blackdiamond

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Originally posted by Scott
“There are a lot of opportunities for players to take positions (in the team). Probably three or four positions are up for grabs and about 10 players, even the new ones, are all jockeying for those positions. So there’s going to be keen competition in this club.”
I think I hear this one every year but it never comes to fruition, the only jockeying is for the three or four gold passes.

I wonder how closely they are looking at the leadership skills on this adventure for that free Vice Captaincy role to share with Tredders?

Josh Carr and maybe even Roger James would be front runners for mine with Peter Burgoyne as the smokey.
 

blackdiamond

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Originally posted by chris17
Expect Tredders to be made captain before the start of the season..
I would be very surprised if this was to happen. I doubt Primus would want to be demoted to Vice Captain and being that I don't see enough players on the list who are capable of being second in charge to Tredders.

All should be status quo with just the addition of one vice captain with the retirement/delisting of Stephen Paxman.
 

chris17

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#6
I don't think Primus will have either..captaincy or v/c.

I agree scott..there is a slight shortage of players who could take up the mantle of V/c's.
 

Russian

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#7
Originally posted by chris17
Expect Tredders to be made captain before the start of the season..
I hope not but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens. As long as it's Matty's decision, i guess it's ok :(
 

Andre

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#8
Originally posted by chris17
I don't think Primus will have either..captaincy or v/c.

I agree scott..there is a slight shortage of players who could take up the mantle of V/c's.
The only way Primus won't be captain is if he says he wants to relinquish it to concentrate on his ruckwork. He's not media shy and he's never had an attitude problem like Richo and would be in our starting 22 if not always starting 18 these days.

I don't see the need for another V/C myself. I'd make Carr deputy-V/C. The clear intention being him and Tredrea move up to Captain and Vice-Captain respectively when Primus relinquishes the position. Having more then one captain or vice-captain just dilutes the importance of the positions in my opinion.
 

blackdiamond

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Im not sure exactly where the players are on the South Island of New Zealand but I thought this next story was interesting.

courtesy of www.nzherald.com.nz

Dead climbers roped together on risky slope



A father and daughter were among four Latvians who fell 300m to their deaths on Mt Cook while using an unusual climbing technique.

The bodies of Teodors Kirsis, 61, his daughter Evija and two other men were spotted by another climbing party about 5am yesterday.

It appeared the climbers were roped together rather than climbing in pairs or alone when they plunged at Linda Shelf near the summit of the mountain.

The president of the Latvian Alpinist Association, Kristaps Liepins, speaking from the capital, Riga, said last night that the other two victims were Ilmars Bernans and Aivars Prosenkovs, both in their 50s.

Mr Kirsis was one of Latvia's most experienced climbers.

Last year he climbed Mt Kosciusko (Australia's highest) to become the oldest man to complete the feat known as Seven Summits, which involves climbing the highest peak on each continent.

(The record was beaten just minutes later by another Latvian climber.)

Mr Kirsis' achievements make him one of the most accomplished mountaineers to die on Aoraki-Mt Cook.

He was also a scientist and university lecturer and in 1996 was awarded one of Latvia's highest honours, becoming a Commander of the Order of Three Stars.

Evija Kirsis, aged in her 20s, had been climbing for about five years, Mr Liepins said.

Mr Kirsis was married to Aina-Lilija and had another daughter, Karena.

Mr Liepins had spoken to Mrs Kirsis, who had not accompanied her husband and daughter on their climbing adventure.

"She is feeling very terrible and it is extra bad for her because she does not know what to do because New Zealand is so far away."

He believed the climbing party had been in the country for just a few days, intending to stay for about two weeks.

"I had spoken to Teodors a little bit about 10 days ago about equipment," Mr Liepins said.

The Latvians had chosen to climb from the bottom of Mt Cook rather than fly to the base camp, Plateau Hut at 2300m, as most people do.

Department of Conservation staff said the group had obeyed all of the Mt Cook National Park rules, registering their intentions and signing the logs at the huts.

Veteran Mt Cook guide Charlie Hobbs said having four climbers attached to one rope was extremely unusual. Most people climbed in pairs or alone.

Tim O'Leary, guiding director of Queenstown Mountain Guiding, also said having multiple climbers on one rope on Mt Cook was uncommon and could increase the risk in an already dangerous environment.

The danger lies in the ice - if one person slips it can be hard to stop falling, especially if other people add weight to the same rope.

The bodies of the Latvians, understood to be in New Zealand specifically to climb Mt Cook, were recovered yesterday afternoon in near-perfect conditions.

The group were taking the Linda Glacier route, the most common.

It is not clear if they had reached the summit or were still ascending when the accident happened.

The four had arrived at Mt Cook village last Thursday, and began their climb over the weekend.

They stopped at the Ball Shelter after a trek of about eight hours before heading to the Plateau Hut, which would have taken another day.

The group signed in at the hut on Monday night and began their trip to the summit early on Tuesday morning.

Climbers usually leave the Plateau Hut by 1am to ensure they get to the Linda Shelf, a large "snow ramp" that pitches up at a 30-degree angle, before sunrise.

The route then goes up an extremely steep gully to the Summit Rocks, before climbers tackle the Ice Cap at the top of the mountain, 3754m above sea level.

The return trip from the Plateau Hut takes about 18 hours for average climbers.

The Latvian climbers were last seen by a professional guide and his client on Tuesday afternoon, at which time they were still heading for the summit.

Mr Hobbs, who has climbed Mt Cook 28 times, said he could not understand why the group were roped together.

"It's not the way Mt Cook is usually climbed, and, yes, for them it has obviously been a dangerous method as it's cost them their lives.

"They obviously climbed in right from the village, which is noble," he said. "It's a tragedy that it ended like this."

Mr O'Leary said all professional mountaineering companies operating on Mt Cook used a two-person rope system holding just the guide and the client.

Police said they would try to contact the climbers' families overnight.

Treacherous ice triggered three rescues this week in the Mt Cook National Park.

Large blocks of ice showered three Australian climbers, a Christchurch man was injured by falling ice, and another Australian man slid 150m down an ice slope before being knocked unconscious.
 

Russian

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#10
Originally posted by Andre
I don't see the need for another V/C myself. I'd make Carr deputy-V/C. The clear intention being him and Tredrea move up to Captain and Vice-Captain respectively when Primus relinquishes the position. Having more then one captain or vice-captain just dilutes the importance of the positions in my opinion.
Couldn't agree more (and wrong thread Scott)
 

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chris17

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#12
Good story scott.:)

I agree with Andre..i really only think you need a captain and vice-captain..no more..it does dilute the honour.

I have a feeling that Primuswon't alone, get the final say on whether he stays captain. Even though he has been a fantastic leader at the club, and a great media friendly, accessible leader, I think Tredders is all those things, with one bonus..he's fit.:)
 

Russian

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#13
Originally posted by Scott
Wrong thread???

I thought it related to the conditions that the Port boys might currently be facing.
That makes sense, if only I could explain my post :confused: - that's it: I'm a dykehead
 
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