Penrith Panthers players start taking academy equipment home for self-isolation
After taking the decision to close the doors, Penrith have now started pulling their impressive rugby league academy apart, to be taken home by players who will start training at home.
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Penrith players have begun tearing apart their hyped $22 million Panthers Academy – with rugby league’s most prestigious training centre now set to be transformed, piece by piece, into backyard gyms.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Panthers CEO Bryan Fletcher has given his players permission to take whatever training equipment they need from a high-performance facility regarded among the best anywhere in the world.
With the club shutting down indefinitely through the COVID-19 pandemic, superstars like Nathan Cleary, Josh Mansour and James Tamou will now be using Academy property to create makeshift gyms in their own backyards and garages.
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On Wednesday morning, every member of the Panthers top squad was given an ‘isolation package’ which includes not only includes a barbell and 150kg of weight plates, but mini hurdles, medicine ball, Steedens, even a lifting belt.
Players will also take home exercise bikes, rowers, battle ropes and punching bags while kickers like Cleary and five-eighth Jarome Luai will be given oversized nets so they can continue practising in their own backyards.
Opened in 2016, Panthers Academy is considered the best of its kind anywhere in rugby league.
From Friday morning however, the 40,000sq m venue – which also provides players with breakfast and lunch – will officially shut down after Penrith became the first club to announce its immediate closure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, the Penrith squad will not only lose access to the club’s state-of-the-art gymnasium, but also hot and cold plunge pools, a floodlit training field, physiotherapy rooms, video analysis stations and various other training resources.
However, the Panthers High Performance staff still consider themselves in a better position to equip players than many NRL rival clubs, given the sheer number of workout items they have at their disposal.
Despite being tipped to finish outside the eight by most NRL experts, Penrith have started the 2020 season strongly, upsetting reigning premiers the Roosters at home and then beating St George Illawarra away.
While Fletcher said his players were “on holidays”, it is understood they will spend only this week on hiatus before embarking on specific online training programs.
Across the NRL, players have begun stripping club gymnasiums of whatever training gear they can grab as franchises like Penrith, Canterbury, Parramatta, Cronulla and Newcastle all prepare to shut down for what will likely be months.
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Ironically, few NRL athletes have any sort of home gym facility in place given clubs not only boast everything they need, but regularly discourage the players from training outside of detailed club programs.
Fletcher said that while the Panthers High Performance staff would continue monitoring the entire NRL squad throughout the shutdown, the players would also need to take responsibility for staying in shape while in isolation.
“And given they’re all professional athletes, that won’t be a problem,” the Panthers CEO insisted.
“Whenever the competition resumes, the clubs will also be given a six-week pre-season to get the players ready for games again.”