The foundations of success in sport can often be found in the work you do while your competitors are resting.
It is what drove Melbourne AFL premiership hero Jack Viney to Bond University while many of his peers across the competition were enjoying their annual overseas jaunts.
And it is a lesson a bunch of Bull Sharks footballers learned when they were lucky enough to join the two-time Demons best and fairest winner and 2021 AFL premiership player for a training session at The Canal this week.
With the Bull Sharks’ pre-season on the horizon, the players opted to get a head start on their mates and tag along with one of the fittest athletes in the AFL.
Bond’s speed and agility coach Dr Joseph Coyne took the group through a session in the Gold Coast heat, a definite switch up from Viney’s Melbourne stomping ground.
Viney has undertaken a two-week program with Coyne who has previously held Performance Director roles with the UFC and Chinese Olympic Committee.
The 219-game veteran and reigning Bluey Truscott medallist as Melbourne’s club champion showed the young Bull Sharks that even the best players can find ways to improve.
Going into the 2025 AFL season Bond’s head of AFL Andy Lovell wants to focus heavily on physical resilience in next season’s hunt for a place in the grand final.
“We will do this over the preseason with our conditioning program, as well as in the gym with our strength,” said Lovell.
“Speed and agility training is something the players really benefit from.
“It was an incredible opportunity for our players to see how much a player of the calibre of Jack Viney is prepared to invest in his own success and they’ve already mentioned the improvements they’ve felt after just one session.”