News Olympic sprinters give young Dogs, Storm speedsters an edge

off-tap-robbie

Kennel Enthusiast
2 x Gilded
Premium Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
1,323
Reaction score
1,793
Two of rugby league's youngest and quickest players are set to light up Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon. And they will only get faster, according to the two Olympic sprinters working with them.

Nick Meaney will wear the No.1 jersey for Canterbury, while Ryan Papenhuyzen remains a good chance to start at the back for the Melbourne Storm, despite being named in the No.17 jersey.


Greyhound: Nick Meaney is showing is pace is an asset for the Bulldogs.CREDIT:AAP

Meaney spent the summer with Matt Shirvington, who once clocked 10.03 seconds for the 100 metres and trained the Bulldogs a couple of times a week. Papenhuyzen, a Bulldogs fan growing up, continues to train with Adam Basil, who won bronze with "Shirvo" in the 4 x 100m relay at the 2001 world championships.

Papenhuyzen created plenty of headlines last weekend when he put the foot down and raced 70 metres to score against Wests Tigers.

Basil said Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr still had Papenhuyzen covered for speed, but with a huge willingness to learn believed the 20-year-old could quickly close that gap.

A report put out by NRL.com.au this week revealed Addo-Carr had been clocked moving the quickest at 38.5km/h in a game this season, just ahead of Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell (36.6km/h) and St George Illawarra's Matt Dufty (36.5km/h).

"At this stage, Josh is quicker but Ryan has a lot of improvement in him, there's no doubt about that,'' Basil told The Sun-Herald. "He's quite raw in terms of what he's shown but from a speed perspective, once he gets some good training and years being him, he'll only improve. He moves really well over the ground."


Speed machine: Melbourne's Ryan Papenhuyzen smokes the Tigers defence. CREDIT:AAP

Shirvington, arguably Australia's highest-profile male sprinter, loves Meaney's enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Meaney was a handy athlete at school but excelled at the 800m rather than the sprint distances.


"The thing I love working with guys like Nick is their enthusiasm and resilience, which comes with being young," Shirvington said. "He's very athletic, very fluid and [has] great rhythm when he runs. As a fullback, you have to cover a lot of ground, be on your toes, change direction, accelerate, decelerate, but Nick is a natural.

"In terms of what I can impart, I mostly focus on the initial acceleration and the speed within transitions of game. By that I mean getting back into position, turning and chasing, picking up the loose ball and making something of it, not just hitting a gap but once you're through accelerating again.


Matt Shirvington (left) and Adam Basil (right) in full flight on the track in 2006.CREDIT:VINCE CAGLIARI

"Nick would be the fastest at the club, but once Reimis [Smith] gets a full head of steam and is covering ground – he has long stride lengths – he might be nipping at Nick's heels."

Meaney was in awe of Papenhuyzen's efforts over the past couple of weeks and told The Sun-Herald: "We'll have to have a foot race. He's pretty quick. He looks like lightning. You can't teach speed. We do testing in the gym, but not as much with speed. It would be a nice little test to see who is the quickest here [at Canterbury]. Reimis is quick, so is Jayden [Okunbor]. It would be close.


"Working with Shirvo was great. He'd come in a couple of days a week. It was all about the explosive starts rather than when you're going at top speed or the end of it."

Meaney, who was always regarded as the most fleet-footed at Newcastle before he headed to Belmore, has adjusted to life at fullback and said while he had survived the aerial attacks from rival teams, it was now a case of ''developing my game and getting more involved''.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/ol...storm-speedsters-an-edge-20190525-p51r2u.html
 

Mr Invisible

Banned
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
0
Reaction score
47
Storm recently picked up a gun in Nico Hynes too.

Meaney getting involved more with attack... perfect.. that's the only chink in his armour at the moment.
 

Boxer

THE BOSS
Joined
Mar 31, 2015
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
Meaney clocked 10.03 for 100 meters that’s fucking quick.
 

Killara DogStat

Kennel Participant
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Messages
102
Reaction score
72
Funny how Brodie Croft also on a chat about growing up following league also a Bulldog supporter. Lastly Munster was offered to us a few years ago & Hasler said No!
 

KiwiDog7

Kennel Immortal
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
15,788
Reaction score
23,937
Speed kills but Meaney hasn’t pulled the trigger yet
 

Kempsey Dog

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
SC Top Scorer
Tipping Champion
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
23,579
Reaction score
24,903
So now we know Papenhuyzen and Croft (big Sherwin fan) were Doggies supporters... what the fark are we doing then sign both
 

CrittaMagic69

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
Gilded
SC H2H Champion
2 x SC Draft Champ
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
72,508
Reaction score
77,765
So now we know Papenhuyzen and Croft (big Sherwin fan) were Doggies supporters... what the fark are we doing then sign both
Yh but I'd probably rather play for the Storm than Dogs right now lol.
 

CrittaMagic69

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
Gilded
SC H2H Champion
2 x SC Draft Champ
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
72,508
Reaction score
77,765
That’s a permaban statement lol
It's true though. If I was at the start of my career I'd much rather live in Melbourne, play the for the Storm and be coached by Bellamy than play for us and be coached by Pay lol. Storm looks best for development and in a few years you get your big money move to another club...or you get a boat.
 

BankstownBulldog

Kennel Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 30, 2008
Messages
2,385
Reaction score
814
It's true though. If I was at the start of my career I'd much rather live in Melbourne, play the for the Storm and be coached by Bellamy than play for us and be coached by Pay lol. Storm looks best for development and in a few years you get your big money move to another club...or you get a boat.
I can’t argue with that logic and herein lies the problem.
We are no longer seen as the powerhouse club we once were to these youngsters coming through.
That needs to change.
 

CrittaMagic69

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
Gilded
SC H2H Champion
2 x SC Draft Champ
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
72,508
Reaction score
77,765
I can’t argue with that logic and herein lies the problem.
We are no longer seen as the powerhouse club we once were to these youngsters coming through.
That needs to change.
Yh there just isn't any appeal to our club anymore. Even Klemmer who was a kid that idolised the club and past players didn't want to stay.
 

Kempsey Dog

Kennel Immortal
Premium Member
SC Top Scorer
Tipping Champion
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
23,579
Reaction score
24,903
Yh but I'd probably rather play for the Storm than Dogs right now lol.
Very true, however prior to Papenhuyzen lighting it up and Croft always being treated like a reserve grader from the likes of Smith I'd say both would have been pretty vulnerable to rival offers had they been presented.
 
Top