On Saturday morning the Newcastle Knights were at King Edward Park for a hill session.
It was the first of the 2016 pre-season, and the players put in a strong shift that showed some already impressive fitness levels.
Jake Mamo, Jarrod Mullen and 18-year-old half Jack Cogger were the standout performers as they led from the front.
Prop Josh King was also fast up the incline considering his giant frame.
“It’s always tough coming down here to King Edward Park, but what a beautiful place to train and it’s good to get down here with all of the boys,” Mamo told Knights TV.
“I’m very stiff and sore now, so I’m just going to rest up and then get back into it next week.”
It was Daniel and Jacob Saifiti’s first hill session with the first team and they performed well, keeping up with smaller teammates despite their 110kg frames.
“It’s definitely a big step up from the 20s,” Daniel said at the end of the session.
“The workload training two times a day, six days a week is definitely heavy on the legs at the moment.”
Jacob admitted that he had some nerves heading into the pre-season, but after completing such challenging sessions as King Edward Park, he is now looking forward to taking the next step.
“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty intimidated coming into pre-season but I’m really looking forward to playing with all the older boys now,” Jacob said.
Young lock Luke Yates shared Jacob’s sentiment, pinpointing a strong sense of togetherness in the team.
“I think there’s a good vibe, everyone’s coming together pretty well,” he explained.
“There’s a good mentality about discipline, so I think everything’s pretty positive at the moment.”
Week three of pre-season kicks off on Monday with a gym session before hitting the field at the University of Newcastle.
CLICK HERE to view the hill session photo gallery.
