Padded shorts a must!

Mark Flanagan

OLDHAMER Mark Flanagan, the former Wigan Warriors player now plying his trade with Australia’s Wests Tigers, brings you the latest from his trip Down Under.

G’DAY from Sydney!

A lot has changed in the month since I wrote my first Chronicle column.

The bright lights and stag parties are starting to fade away now and the real work has started.

Three weeks into pre-season and the intensity of training is absolutely relentless. We are all being pushed beyond the realms of lunacy in 35-plus centigrade heat.

It is a very different sort of ‘tough’ to what I am used to — Oldham Edge and Waterhead reservoir in the rain and snow seem an awful long way away.

We have suffered in the gym, on the running track and on the wrestling mats, but by far the hardest session has been the 60km bicycle ride we did last Saturday.

It was made even tougher for me as I spent the first 10k with the brakes rubbing against my tyres without me noticing, slowing me down considerably.

Spending that long on a bicycle seat can be quite painful . . . I will be investing in some padded shorts so that hopefully I can give my John Wayne impression a rest in future.

Away from training I have managed to fit in a few trips to the beach, which is something you struggle to do in Oldham.

I am also hoping to do a bit of surfing soon. I’ll be careful to watch out for sharks, though.
The Wests Tigers boys are making me feel welcome. They know how to enjoy themselves, too. Last week, I joined a few team-mates on one of their speedboats on the river. This job has its perks!

I thought the England side did well in the Four Nations and were unlucky not to come away with a win in the final.

I was supporting our boys from Down Under and was pleased to see a few Oldham lads in there in - Kyle Eastmond, Chris Bridge and Kevin Sinfield, who all went really well.

From what I have seen this climate has a lot to answer for in terms of international competition. In Australia we train our skills and speed in hot, dry conditions, whereas I guess you all know about the pre-season weather in December and January in England.

I hope all is well in Oldham. I am looking forward to the visit of my mam and dad plus two of my mates, Jack and Bobby, in the next few days. Hopefully they won’t be the last visitors.