I'll be ready for action in '06
Nathan Brown
The Fighting Tiger Bulletin
December 2005
I have been approaching this pre-season with a difference - an open mind and an eagerness to overcome the biggest challenge I've faced in my football career.
Breaking my leg on May 27 happened in a split second, but the recovery takes a lot longer. . . some say six months, some say a year, and some pessimists say a full recovery won't happen.
I'm having my leg X-rayed every three weeks and the healing is more evident each time I get the results. It is, however, quite strange to see a titanium rod with three screws sitting in the middle!
The surgeon Hayden Morris and Club doctor Greg Hickey monitor me very closely and they are both really happy with my recovery and think that I'm ahead of schedule. So the rumors going around that I'll never play again, which I have heard, are totally false and I'm looking to make a complete recovery for the 2006 season.
The Club gave me three weeks off in July to clear my head, forget about football and get some rest and relaxation, I decided to go to Europe, where it was summer holidays at the time - Paris and Monaco to be precise - and while I enjoyed the sights of both of these magical cities, I was burning inside to be back playing footbalL I constantly checked the internet for football news and scores and watched our two games against Port Adelaide and Carlton on-line, much to the disbelief of my girlfriend, Paris and Monaco are fantastic places, but playing football on the MCG in July is the ultimate at that time of the year as far as I'm concerned . . .
Since getting back, I've been doing five days a week training with our strength and conditioning advisor Warren Kofoed, Warren has done every session with me, which has been great It's always a bit more enjoyable, and it helps you go a little harder, when someone is there with you.
I've been running every second day on the treadmill with a special harness the Club bought, to allow me to move at a lighter body weight, to avoid stress on the fracture site. Straight after the running, I jump into the pool and do interval sessions that total about 2km of staring at the black line on the bottom. Every other day, I have been on the exercise bike and doing weights. Warren has been fantastic in assisting with
my recovery, even if I do frustrate the hell out of him at times when I get ahead of myself. . .
I've enjoyed having all the boys back and getting stuck into pre-season training. There's no other job in the world where you can have 40 mates to work hard, laugh, and take the pee out of each other every day with, The boys are significantly more developed than last pre-season in the areas that Terry (Wallace) has identified are the keys to success in this competition. The young players have put on some size, the speed-testing results are quicker, and our skills are improving, which is music to the ears of "Batman" (aka Matty Richardson) and "Robin" (yours truly).
The standout performers in the pre-season so far have been Ray Hall, who is looking fantastic, Jay Schulz who's maturing and Andrew Krakouer, who is showing the benefits of having trained hard over the break.
It certainly shapes as an exciting year for the Richmond Football Club in 2006. At times last season we showed that we are good enough to match it with the best in the business, beating the eventual premier Sydney and losing to the other grand finalist West Coast by two points. If we continue to work hard, there's no reason why we can't make further, significant in-roads next year.
We aim to play a fast, attractive brand of football, and have our sights firmly set on taking our place in the September action. With the loyal, fanatical support of the Tiger Tribe, I believe that we can get there.
