Kristian Woolf Q&A on St Helens final pre-season touches

Coach Kristian Woolf gave a few thoughts to the Star’s Mike Critchley.

MC: Has the better weather allowed you to get back on the field in training?

KW: It has been really good on the training pitch since it has dried up.

It has given us a chance to get back on grass as we had to spend a bit of time on the 3G prior to that.

That has given the players a real spring in their step – particularly with the weather being so good and with getting so close to games now. There has been a noticeable step up in intensity.

MC: Are you now able to use the Cowley fields freely?

KW: We are still in tight Covid restrictions which does limit where we can go.We live in a bubble where we cannot cross over and nobody can come into our bubble.

Cowley, being a school, does present challenges – but they are not back at the moment so we have been able to train there.

The bigger issue has been the weather – how wet it was and at times the snow and the frozen pitch.

But the last couple of weeks it has been fine.

We currently have the ability to use Cowley and Ruskin and at some stage will have pitch at the stadium as well. These are things we need to sort out over the next couple of weeks.

MC: How has training developed as the pre-season has progressed?

KW: At the moment we are doing a lot of game-simulation stuff. The pre-season is about getting fitter and stronger first of all and that is we spent the first block doing that.

We have also done a lot of skill work and this has given us an opportunity to develop those parts of the game.

We have also tinkered with a few things we can improve.

That has been the pre-season – now it is about putting all that together and in game simulation where we are putting players in conditions where they are fatigued and game-like just so that they are physically and mentally prepared for Round 1.

We had a nice, tough opposed session last week and will have another one of those this week – and then we will go into Tommy’s testimonial which will double up as our only trial.

That will be a good opportunity to look at where everyone is at and where we are as a team.

MC: As a coach what do you relish about this time of year, particularly the improvements you can get out of players?

KW: I enjoy pre-seasons – particularly this year, given the length. When you haven’t got a game, it gives you the chance to work on the players physically and their skillset.

Once you get into the season some of that stuff is difficult to do because you are constantly recovering from games, preparing for them and playing. You go through that cycle again.

MC: Other news this week was the announcement of the Academy returning after more than a year. That must be pleasing?

KW: I am really pleased. That is a real positive for the club and the game in general that we are getting back to normality in that way.

I really feel for our players sometimes because Covid has created a tough environment in a number of ways, the scheduling and the protocol and some of the things that are taken away that have made footy fun.

I feel even sorrier for the lower grades and the academy falls into that. They have gone 12 months without rugby league. They play at those levels and age groups because they love the sport and want to play and compete. When that is taken away it is really tough.

From another point of view it is 12 months of development, both physical and mental, in how to play the game that those players have missed out on.

It is a positive that is looking like it is coming back really soon.

For the sake of all those kids and people involved in the lower levels I am really happy for them and really looking forward to it.

MC: Would the Academy groups have to stay completely separate from the senior squad in terms of training days and venues.

KW: We can’t have any cross over at all so the bubble that our first grade squad lives in will need to continue, as are the staff. It is a hurdle we all have to overcome – but we just want to get those kids playing footy again.