‘Everything that we do this weekend is training.’
Those are the words that greeted the Broncos as they arrived at their pre-season camp at a remote property on Queensland’s Darling Downs.
The Broncos’ NRL squad’s final assignment before their Christmas break was to complete the camp designed to build a cohesive team, build resilience, create a memory and achieve something as a group.
New faces mixed alongside NRL-experienced players in a torture test of resilience, their meagre supplies limited to the water strapped to their back and the torch on their head.
After a short introduction, the three groups were quickly put to work carrying weighted equipment along a dirt road, the catch being they knew neither their destination nor the distance they would travel.
| Blue | Navy | Brown |
|---|---|---|
| Jesse Arthars | Jack Bird | Patrick Carrigan |
| Ethan Bullemor | Darius Boyd | Brodie Croft |
| Herbie Farnworth | Tom Dearden | Xavier Coates |
| Kobe Hetherington | Thomas Flegler | David Fifita |
| Richie Kennar | Tyson Gamble | Alex Glenn |
| Matthew Lodge | Payne Haas | Jamayne Isaako |
| Anthony Milford | Jamil Hopoate | Rhys Kennedy |
| Corey Oates | Tesi Niu | Andrew McCullough |
| Tevita Pangai Jnr | Joe Ofahengaue | Izaia Perese |
| Cory Paix | Jake Turpin | Pride Petterson-Robati |
| Ilikena Vudogo | Jordan Riki |
“You’ve just gotta grab something and go,” said Broncos’ forward Joe Ofahengaue.
When you don’t know how far you’re going to walk with all that heavy stuff in your hands… you’ve got to dig deep and have mental toughness.
Joe Ofahengaue Brisbane Broncos
The teams’ achievement was short-lived as they were quickly plunged into a conditioning session, with dust and dirt blurring their vision and clogging their lungs as the squad worked towards their goal.
“They told us it’s only going to be as hard as we made it,” said Ofahengaue.
“We stuck through, there were no penalties, nothing, so the staffies were pretty happy and it was kind of a win for us.”
Now covered in dirt that was stuck to their sweaty bodies, the teams were tasked with constructing their sleeping arrangements. They were only allowed to us a few basic tools and the trees around them.
“Some of us were freezing… we had to keep grabbing more sticks and more leaves to make it as cosy as we could,” said Ofahengaue.
Huddled together under their shelters in the middle of the bush the squad tried to get some sleep; but the senior members knew they wouldn’t be sleeping long.
The squad was promptly ordered back out from their constructed shelters and put through another gruelling conditioning session under the flood lights.
“It was a real proud moment for all of us because we got through another session,” said Ofahengaue.
After the session, they were finally rewarded with their first food of the camp in the form of protein bars and shakes as well as baked beans, which they rationed amongst the three teams.
Day one had then finally come to an end – but the squad still had another day-and-a-half of work left.
Looking back, Ofahengaue said the squad had bonded through their shared achievement while in camp.
“Walking out of that army camp on the last day I could honestly feel like we came closer,” he said.
“We were all hurting, but we all loved it.”
