Essendon's fitness team have made sure pre-season training goes swimmingly for the players by adding a new exercise to the schedule: water polo.
The competitive water polo sessions at the Windy Hill pool are expected to play a significant role in building the players' fitness base and helping them recover from other intensive training.
Fitness coach, Joel Hocking, told Bomber TV that water polo hasn't been part of training in the five years he has been at the club but said it will be a useful tool, especially when the playing group is feeling sore.
""It helps us get the players heart-rate up and gets them working but with minimal impact compared to running on the track,"" he said.
The players enjoyed the first session and were happy to swap boots and short for goggles and speedos but had varying levels of success.
""Mal Michael is pretty good, he would be our best, because he used to play water polo when he was 14-years old,"" Hocking said.
""We had a few guys who are fairly inefficient in the pool - guys like Brent Stanton and Kyle Reimers are more suited to moving around on the ground.""
Jason Laycock was another to shine while Alwyn Davey wasn't able to produce his trademark speed and defensive pressure in the pool.
Hocking expects water polo training to continue throughout pre-season and be incorporated into the 2008 regular season as part of recovery sessions.
