Leighanne Ball, the club's media officer, brings you the lowdown of day four in Tenerife...
Today was rest day for the players.
After three days of grueling sessions, it was time for some rest and recuperation. That’s obviously very important when you’re training as intensely as these players do when they’re out here.
The players have different ways of unwinding or spending their day off around the hotel. Some chose to stay in bed/ their room all day, while others lounged by the pool and spent time in the water to actively recover.
Ollie Rathbone told me on days like these he doesn’t leave his room apart from when it’s time to eat, or he’s been summoned for a live chat on Instagram.
Staff wise, Beechy went on a three-hour cycle up towards Mount Teide, and Callum Jones and Kev Gibbins went off to play golf. I say he cycled towards Mount Teide because with just 10k to go until the top, the road was shut for resurfacing so Beechy had to turn around and come back. How gutted would you be!
The physios were on call all day, and the players could drop in and out of the treatment room as they wished throughout the day for any rubs, massages and treatments. I popped my head in a few times and there was also someone in there making the most of the service.
While the players rest, days like today give me the opportunity to catch up on emails and upload any remaining content from the first few days.
I did, however, treat myself to a lie in, though, and didn’t venture down for breakfast until 8.45am, where I met Jack the Kitman and a few of the players, who, too, had decided to go a bit later for food.
A few of us embarked on a walk to around the coast-line to pass a bit of time in the morning and recharge our batteries, and I got back to work in the afternoon, heading up to the T3 to make use of the wifi. It was a productive afternoon and I can head into the second part of the week with a clean slate.
At 4.30pm, Brad Inman, Ian Henderson and Ollie Rathbone took part in our first ever Insta Live session. Thanks to everyone who tuned in and sent in a question - the players were delighted with the interaction and really appreciated you taking the time to get involved!
If you’ve yet to watch it, head over the club’s Instagram account (officiallydale) and watch our story - it’s on there for 24-hours after filming. If nothing else, it'll give you a good laugh.
I hope it has given you a sense of how close this squad is, with Brad, who has only been at the club a couple of weeks, already one of the boys. There was some brilliant ‘banter’ amongst the group and plenty of laughing, which is always fantastic to see.
Some things I learned from the chat - Niall Canavan has the worst dress sense, Harrison McGahey is the sorest loser, Hendo is the vainest and Andy Cannon has the worst taste in music. Callum Camps who joined the live chat from his room kindly let everyone know that Katy Perry’s latest album is Andy’s newest purchase, much to Andy’s embarrassment.
Ollie discussed his bromance with Joe Thompson, with these two face-timing each other every day, by the sounds of it. I hadn’t realised they were so close, so it was nice to hear that such a bond had formed in such a short space of time. Ollie joked it was all one way, but I think he’s doing himself an injustice.
Oh, by the way, did you know that Brad scored against Rochdale for Crewe?. #Sarcasm ;)
The hot topic, though, was who’d win a race out of Andy and Joe Raff. Now, Andy initially said himself but lost the fans’ poll with the majority saying Joe. There’s only one thing for it… race! We’ll have to see if there’s time to maybe fit a quick sprint in before we head back to England.
Tonight provided the back room staff, the Chairman, Russ, Paul and I a bit of respite from the hotel, as we went out to a local restaurant for a bite to eat. We were only out for a couple of hours but it was great for everyone to get together, because you can, well, me anyway, end up immersed in work all day out here without interacting too much - cheers to Kev for organising!
After a whole day off, the players will no doubt be in a for a tough day tomorrow. As Hendo said in our Insta session, he knows it’s coming and he’s ready for it. He’s expecting it to be intense but he’s looking forward to it. Every player I spoke to yesterday said the same thing. Yes, it might be tough, but it’s all minutes in the bank for the season ahead, which is so very important.
I, too, am looking forward to getting back at it, and will again endeavour to post as much content as I can from the sessions on day four.
Night,
Leighanne