Wests Tigers recruit Adam Blair finding solace and the key to speed with his wife Jess

THE weather was hardly conducive to going outside but even on his day off Adam Blair confronted the elements to prepare for his return to Melbourne.

Adam and Jess Blair

YESTERDAY's weather was hardly conducive to going outside but even on his day off Adam Blair confronted the foul elements to prepare for this weekend's almost forgotten return to Melbourne.

The vacant gloom of Centennial Park was apt for Blair, whose improved endurance has gone unnoticed since joining Wests Tigers amid a blaze of expectation this season.

The Kiwi is one of the few Tigers to stay fully fit so far this season.

And the absence at times of teammates Gareth Ellis, Keith Galloway, Matt Groat, Liam Fulton and Chris Heighington has has significantly increased his workload.

Blair has gone the distance in eight of 12 starts thus far - including two golden point victories. His early showers were only granted with the team comfortably ahead, but the 106kg recruit is still averaging 77.7 minutes.

"It's not about playing so many minutes, but trying to become consistent over the 80 minutes," Blair said.

"Playing on the edge you can come in and out of games and that's what was happening at the start of the season.

"I originally came to the Tigers as an edge player, but I'm now more in the middle as a link man to the front row."

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Spending maximum time in peak traffic, Blair needed to develop his intensity under fatigue to keep pace at the end of matches.

That explains yesterday's additional session with speed coach Roger Fabri, who has been secretly working one-on-one with Blair for two months.

"My wife Jess was training with Roger and I came along one day," Blair said.

"He (Roger) pushed me to try some new things and I had nothing to lose. We've been really concentrating on explosive speed over those first two or three strides, to try and get through the advantage line and get a quick play-the-ball."

But Blair has relied on his better half for more than athletic introductions.

With Blair's parents and close relatives still in Melbourne, she's provided crucial support during an eye-opening initiation to the public scrutiny that Sydney clubs attract.

"I knew that was always going to be the case here," he said. "I'm very lucky to have a young family that keeps me grounded. The boys at the Tigers have been criticised before and shown trust in each other. We all knew we weren't playing our best footy. People had a right to an opinion.

"But we've turned things around and stuck together."

Victory over his old Storm teammates tomorrow night will push Blair's Tigers into equal-second on the back of seven-match winning streak.

"Melbourne brought me to the club as a 16-year-old and they will always be special to me," he said.

"I haven't really thought about playing them too much because I've just keep doing the little things right here."

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