I couldn't find this on the web so I scanned it in. It mentions Richmond near the end of the story...
THE AMAZING RACE
By Matt Windley
Herald-Sun
Friday 11 Nov 2011, page 102
Preparation overseas has become the height of fashion for some football clubs, while others opt for a more low-key build-up over summer
THE pre-season training camp.
Some clubs swear by it, others don't.
Some clubs are prepared to spend big on it, others have different priorities.
Getting the best preparation at a swanky overseas resort has become something of an arms race in recent years.
By Christmas Collingwood, Gold Coast and North Melbourne players will have been subjected to altitude training in the US.
Richmond would have also been to the US, Carlton to the piercing heat of the Middle East and Port Adelaide to picturesque southern New Zealand.
The Magpies, though, have been the altitude pioneers and will later this month embark upon the same path they have trekked almost every year since 2004.
``I think it's the sixth time in seven years that we're headed to Arizona,'' football manager Geoff Walsh said.
``(Club director of sports science) David Buttifant is a strong disciple of it, so we think the residual effect, year after year, gives the boys a strong base to work from. We're pretty much converted to the benefits of altitude training.
``To go one-off and never go again would be a waste of time and money, but if you can manage to put a program together over a number of years it definitely gives you some sort of cumulative effect.''
Adelaide is another altitude sympathiser.
The Crows use a local altitude training centre, but the club is considering building an altitude room of its own at West Lakes.
Others are less convinced.
And when the most vocal opponent of the pre-season camp's merits -- and its cost -- is the winner of three of the past five premierships, you have to take notice.
``The issue is that if we commit to altitude training in its most genuine form, you're really committing to five years,'' Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said this week.
``So that has a huge financial impact on our football club and so we actually ask ourselves, `Can we get better value for our dollar training some other way?'
``Sports science knows that this is not a conclusive science, but we don't turn over $70 million like Collingwood. We just try to get the best value for our buck . . . you can train hard anywhere.''
But is the chief benefit of the trip simply fitness or camaraderie?
Power football manager Peter Rohde said: ``It's mainly about getting our group together for a bit of team bonding.
``We're doing some outdoor-type activities. Obviously in Christchurch you can imagine the sorts of things we'll be doing around there (given the terrain).
``Every year we've had some sort of camp for the players, whether it be regional South Australian stuff, Tassie, Gold Coast.
``It gives you a chance to go away and spend a fair bit of time on leadership and get a lot of team meetings out of the way, but most of all it's just time spent together.''
For those staying put, the reasons are varied.
West Coast and Sydney are comfortable in their own climates, Melbourne and St Kilda want and need time in their new facilities under new coaches.
Greater Western Sydney is still getting its list together, while Essendon simply says it has ``other priorities''.
``We're probably a bit unusual in that regard, most clubs do something,'' Bombers football manager Paul Hamilton said.
``But from our point of view we've just got so much teaching to do, the coaches have just got so much they want to teach and so much they want to get done in terms of game plan, the physical side of the game.
``I suppose right at the moment there are other priorities . . . that might change, but at the moment it's about the development, the learning and the physical development.''
WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE OUR AFL CLUBS?
ADELAIDE
WHERE: Kent Town, Adelaide
(Altitude Training
Solution Centre)
WHEN: October-November
THEY SAY: "We've been exploring getting an altitude room. It's a huge expenditure, so we want to make sure we do the research; that we know what we're getting into. We've had seven or eight players using the new facilities in the city."
- Physical performance manager Stephen Schwerdt
BRISBANE LIONS
WHERE: Noosa Heads,
Qld
WHEN: Early November
THEY SAY: "Everyone's been off for the holidays and had a rest, so it gives us the chance to get time to ourselves and provide information to the players that they've probably gotten spasmodically throughout the pre-season in the past."
- Coach Michael Voss
CARLTON
WHERE: Doha, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, UAE
WHEN: Late October -
early November
THEY SAY: "Getting out of bed at 5.30 each morning puts your mind in a pretty negative space, so it's a big thing to get yourself up and about. Getting punishments for not doing something right is pretty tough, but it forces the boys to get each other through, which is something you can't do on your own."
- Defender David Ellard
COLLINGWOOD
WHERE: Flagstaff, Arizona, US
WHEN: Late November -
early December
THEY SAY: "David Buttifant is a strong disciple of (altitude training), so we think the residual effect, year after year, gives the boys a strong base to work from. We're pretty much converted to the benefits of it."
- Football manager Geoff Walsh
FREMANTLE
WHERE: Esperance, WA
WHEN: Mid-February
THEY SAY: "A number of players have been at the club training for the past couple of weeks, but pre-season training started officially on Monday. Esperance is a three-four day community camp coinciding with week two, Round 1, of the NAB Cup."
- Club spokesman.
GEELONG
WHERE: Falls Creek (younger players only)
WHEN: Mid-November
THEY SAY: "The issue is that if we commit to altitude training in its most genuine form, you're really committing to five years.
We don't turn over $70 million like Collingwood. We're not flushed with dollars, but we want to make sure that it doesn't stop our innovation. We just try to get the best value for our buck ... you can train hard anywhere."
- Chief executive Brian Cook
GOLD COAST
WHERE: Flagstaff, Arizona
WHEN: Early-mid November
THEY SAY: "It's going to
be physically demanding with hikes, mountain bike rides, a lot of track work, gym sessions, skill work.
It'll be a lot of the things that we do normally, just in a different environment. It's going to be invaluable."
- Football manager Marcus Ashcroft
HAWTHORN
WHERE: Kokoda Trek, PNG; Sunshine Coast, Qld
WHEN: PNG, mid-November; Qld mid-December
THEY SAY: "The players that haven't been before will be heading to Kokoda next week and then we've got a team camp in Queensland. It'll be conditioning and football, there's a whole heap of benefits, but the ability to have the group of players together so you can do a whole range of activities - some physical, some footy related, others strategic - and tick off a lot of those things before Christmas."
- Football manager Mark Evans
NORTH MELBOURNE
WHERE: Park City, Utah, US
WHEN: Late October-early November
THEY SAY: "We think it is great to come back to the same venue and conduct some of the same sessions and compare that with where we were this time last year. The players can see that. They can see the benefits that they are going to get, not only next season, but it will compound in future seasons."
- Coach Brad Scott
PORT ADELAIDE
WHERE: Christchurch,
New Zealand
WHEN: Early December
THEY SAY: "It's mainly about getting our group together for a bit of team bonding. We're doing some outdoor-type activities. Every year we've had some sort of camp for the players ... it gives you a chance to go away and spend a fair bit of time on leadership and get a lot of team meetings out of the way."
- Football manager Peter Rohde
RICHMOND
WHERE: Phoenix,
Arizona, US
WHEN: Late November - early December
THEY SAY: "We've got a bit of a relationship with a group over there called Athlete's Performance and they've got state of the art facilities, apparently they're pretty mind-blowing. So it's not about altitude, I think it's more about training in elite facilities, a different environment."
- Defender David Astbury
WESTERN BULLDOGS
WHERE: Gold Coast
WHEN: Yet to be decided
THEY SAY: "We're so lucky to have the Vic Uni just around the corner where we can tap in to some amazing facilities. We're throwing a few ideas around about maybe
having a mental break as much as anything, going somewhere different for three or four days and doing a little bit of training, but actually releasing the grind of four or five months of training."
- Coach Brendan McCartney
