Port Adelaide players and coaches take part in paintball on fourth morning of club’s pre-season camp in Maroochydore, Queensland
Port Adelaide has fired its first shots during pre-season … on the paintball course. Power players and coaches took part in a two-hour skirmish on Sunday. Several stars were on the winning side.
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Shots were taken, targets were hit, there were plenty of bruises and one side walked away with the win – but there was not a football in sight.
Instead, Power players, coaches and support staff spent the fourth morning of the club’s pre-season training camp in Maroochydore, Queensland on Sunday taking part in paintball.
Wearing camouflaged jumpsuits and protective masks while armed with paint-loaded guns, competitors faced off in teams at Skirmish Sunshine Coast.
They played 20-minute games on a course filled with forts, rainwater tanks and sheets of metal.
In the morning’s finale, a players’ team featuring Travis Boak, Ollie Wines and Charlie Dixon defeated a coaches unit that included Ken Hinkley.
Power senior assistant Michael Voss said paintball was chosen for the camp not only for fun but because it made players think quickly and strategically.
“We’re asking the players to think on their feet on the ground and in the current environment in the AFL with limited runners, (this tests) their ability to forge a plan together, be able to stay with a plan and adjust around it,” Voss said.
“It’s nice to be able to have a few more learnings without having to run the track and get the Ks (kilometres) up.
Day 4 of Port Adelaide's pre-season camp in Maroochydore kicked off today with paintball.
— Matt Turner (@mattturner1986) December 15, 2019
Split into a few teams.
Finale featured a Boak & Wines-led team taking on a coaches crew that included Ken Hinkley.@TheTiserSport @superfooty pic.twitter.com/vUjAtTdEpd
“This is a down day, but it might not feel like it with the amount that I’m sweating.
“Even for us (coaches) it’s the ability to be able to have some fun with the players and this may be an opportunity for the players to get a little bit of their own back.
“We expected them to come at us pretty hard.
“But it’s another thing of building the gap between the players and coaches.
“They can see the human side of us and take a few cheap shots if that’s what it takes.”
Port started its camp with a running session on Thursday, then did match simulation and skills training the next two days, as well as spending Saturday morning wrestling at the beach.
Some players, including captain Tom Jonas, did not attend the paintball battle because they were part of a group on light duties or nursing injuries.
Jonas has a sore left ankle and has been sitting out of most sessions.
The camp runs until Wednesday.