Most players look slimmer than last year. Some look to have lost too much weight and generally they look much more like obsessive gym users than rugby players. Lots of beach muscle and reasonably ripped. Thats good for bodybuilding contests and male modelling but rugby players need to have a little more of an energy store and a little padding otherwise their energy levels will crash, which is what we have seen, and this leanness also seems to be leading to players taking knocks during games. Quite a number of times various players went down after tackles and had to be patched up before carrying on.

Instead of a guy who is a gym manager, working part time, the club should be employing a good experienced conditioner with rugby experience. If the players energy levels are low now, we will get worse as the season progresses.

I'm not convinced by James Lowes but unless the conditioning regime delivers him appropriately fit players he doesn't stand a chance.

Don't forget the Defensive coach as well...

The whole coaching and fitness structure at the club is amateur at best.

I raised this issue late in 2008 when Lowes seemed to be appointing all his amateur mates from bradford/leeds/yorkshire.

All I got was to have my head bitten off by the likes of TANCW and SEB.

Just watched the game on sky+ and can you believe it but catalans scored 2 or 3 tries when they were a man down!!

Im sorry but alarm bells are ringing very loudly

When Cats upped the tempo half way through the second half, we were shown to be, where we are.
Last week against Saints it was the same.

we are NOWHERE near fit enough to last 80 minutes, at the moment we are really good for 40, and it wont take opposition teams long to work that one out.

We have a defensive coach?

LOL !!!

No, we just bloody need one!

Hey don't knock the fitness levels.That hydrotherapy pool at Total Fitness has been taking some hammering

and the saua, and the steam room

or even 'sauna'

Don't forget the sunbeds too.