With heavy rain falling on the Gold Coast over the weekend, the team relocated to the Carrara Basketball Stadium with the players were forced to sweat it out in the local sports complex.
The players took to the court to participate in a highly-competitive modified game of basketball and AFL.
Splitting into groups of five, the players hand-passed the sherrin to one another until a player was close or confident enough to handball the football into the hoop.
Elevated-rookie Kyal Horsley and rising star Harley Bennell provided the highlight of the game after Horsley blocked Bennell’s attempted shot under the rim.
Speaking after the session, small-forward Aaron Hall told goldcoastfc.com.au the game was designed to increase the heart rate to aid in the recovery after a solid hit-out after toughing it out in testing conditions in Townsville over the weekend.
“The (SUNS) Reserves played here on the weekend in pretty poor conditions in the wet, and it was pretty draining in Townsville given the heat and humidity, so it was great to have a bit of a kick and get the bodies moving,” said Hall.
Despite having endured a frustrating pre-season due to groin soreness and a rib injury, the 186cm Tasmanian was one of the shining lights in the SUNS 13-point loss to North Melbourne.
“It was great to put in a strong performance in Townsville against the Kangaroos and gain some match fitness after having only completed around 35% of the pre-season training program,” Hall said.
“While I have been limited, I was able to complete the full altitude camp in Arizona and that really helped towards building my fitness base over the summer.”
With his sights firmly set on running out with the 22-man squad for the GC SUNS season opener against St. Kilda on Saturday 30 March at Metricon Stadium, Hall is hoping to use the rest of the pre-season to push his case for senior selection.
“I’m certainly entering this premiership season with the goal of playing as many games as possible, so hopefully I’ll be able to find some good form heading into the AFL Season and help the team climb up the ladder this year.”
