Alstead interview

Centurions threequarter Dave Alstead chatted to Dave Parkinson about preparations for the new season, forthcoming friendlies and what they mean to players and coaching staff, and a possible future positional change!.



DP: Well Dave, it's been a long time between games, you must be looking forward to it now?

DA: I've got the old nervous belly like I always do, but when you don't get that it's time to give up isn't it?

I'm really looking forward to it, it's always good playing against one of my old clubs.

DP: And of course Warrington were your first professional club weren't they?

DA: Yeah, I was there when I was 16. There are still a couple of the guys that I speak too and keep in touch with. There was myself, Paul Wood and Mark Gleeson who all signed at the same time. I know Mark isn't there anymore but Woody is still there. He's been there quite a while!

DP: Have you been selected in the starting thirteen for the Wolves game?

DA: I've been selected at number three, on the right centre. It should be good, I'm looking forward to it.

DP: It's a position that you finished last season in isn't it?

DA: Yeah, I think I'm heading towards the center of the pitch. I might make it as prop next year!

DP: How's pre-season gone under Ian, I'm led to believe it's been pretty tough?

DA: Do you know what, it's been good. When people say it's pretty tough others think of that as a negative and tough cn be quite a negative word but obviously the sport we are in is touch and that's what all the lads enjoy really. Getting a real good structure to the training sessions has made me love the game again, I always have done but you enjoy going to training, you enjoy the challenge that session is going to give you. For me I enjoy the format of the sessions in that Ian will always explain the purpose of the drill, the reason why he chose to do that drill and the outcomes he wants off the back end of it.

If you know the reason why you are doing a certain activity, it makes it more enjoyable and you put more effort in. That's personal to me but I reckon it would be echoed across the board for all the guys. The sessions have been tough physically but there's no point training soft because if you train soft then you play soft.

The sessions have been structured really well. As we come towards the beginning of the season they are getting tougher and more physical, again we are going into a game on Sunday and we expect it to be a physical game so we've needed to be training how we are going to play.

DP: Do you think it's good that the club have opted to play friendlies against two of the better sides in Super League?

DA: I think it's a bonus. If we can stick to the plans that we've put in place on the training pitch, against two of the better sides in Super League then we can definitely do that and more against opposition in our league. I don't understand teams that would have a friendly against someone they feel they are much better than because it doesn't do anything but stroke their egos really. Whether it's on a training pitch on a weekday, on a rugby ground on a Sunday or in life in general you've got to be challenging yourself.

DP: A few years ago at Leigh they disbanded their Under-21 team for that reason, the team wasn't being challenged as it had been denied promotion to test themselves against better opposition. At the time Paul Terzis said he couldn't see the benefit to the players if they were winning every game by fifty points and at the same time didn't know how certain players would respond in a close game.

DA: You can see the rationale in that when it's explained like that. I think games such as friendlies are good just to get you playing as well. As much as it's important to be playing against better or equal opposition, it's important to get on the pitch as well. That's why I'm glad that it's looking like this weekend is going to be on because it's so frustrating, especially when you build yourself up for a game, such as the Salford one and it gets called off due to adverse weather. It's nothing we can control but all the lads just need to get out on the pitch.

DP: It's also frustrating from a reporting and supporting point of view.

DA: I think everyone feels it. Everyone get's psyched up and it's disappointing. This week it looks like it's going to go ahead though, which I'm really glad for.

Personally I'm also pleased I've got a bit of a pre-season in. I didn't really get that last year. Having the two operations I was out while all the other guys were doing their training and by the time I started my pre-season we were already five games in or something like that.

DP: You had a pre-season, in season really didn't you?

DA: I did, and the demands of the game are really physical so when you are in season your training timetable changes. It's got to change to accommodate you getting fit for that Sunday game. I had a non-existent pre-season last year, but this time it's been good. I've been hitting the gym, I’ve been putting a bit of size back on, working on some areas on the pitch such as my speed.

What is really good, is that Basil is really focused on the guys bsic technical abilities, such as the way you approach on impact. It's all little things like that, which from my experience of playing for Warrington to playing National League, Championship or Championship One level, I've been across the divisions really. I think one thing that seems to fall off is the concentration to detail. That is when as a player and from a personal point of view you don't progress. You need to know. You need to get the little things right and that is when it all comes together on a weekend.

DP: There's that cliche isn't there? Get the little things right and the big things happen?

DA: That's it and that is what it is, through any walk of life really. There's no point in focusing on the big picture if you are not doing the little things right. There's no point on us focusing on winning the league if we are not focused on a game-by-game situation. Likewise there is no point focusing on winning the game if we are not concentrating on areas of our ruck defence or as a centre, the strike out wide. You've all got to focus on the little things that you are responsible for and we don't need to worry about winning the game. If we do those little things we win the game and hopefully go on. That's rugby league in a nutshell!

DP: You've made it sound so simple there Dave! The other thing when it comes to preseason friendlies, is it more a case of trying out these little things or things that you can tweak? Although you know it could impact on the game it's not going to have an impact on the season and you know you can revisit it?

DA: From a coaches perspective, definitely. It's also from a coach perspective, looking at the players you've got and seeing whether they are walking the walk as well as they are talking the talk in training.

From a playing point of view it's a chance to prove yourself as much as it is at any point of the season. I don't treat friendlies any differently to say a cup final. You've got to approach each game in the same way. If you start treating any game differently, then you are going to play differently in those games and it points at a lack of attention to detail. My dad always said put everything into it that you can. There’s no point going in half-hearted. If you do, you will get hurt, it's as simple as that.

For me personally, the nervous belly is there and anyone would think I was playing a final on Sunday. The minute I don't feel that way about the game; that I don't feel that passion, then I'm not doing the right thing.

DP: Thinking from a personal point of view, the last time you played Warrington in a friendly you scored a hat-trick?

DA: I've had a little think about that myself. It's games like that, well, that show the attitude that you need to approach friendlies. It's a chance to play against your old mates, it's a chance to play for or against the supporters that come watching every week, it's a chance to prove yourself. The atmosphere you'll know yourself, when certain players play against old clubs. Spectators feel it don't they? If you magnify that by say a hundred, you get the feeling of the player!

It's been a few years since I played at Warrington so I wouldn't expect to be on the tips of everyone's tongues when they are talking about who it would be good to see. That fire is still there for me. I'd love to get out there and score four this time, mainly for the fact of proving myself to the rest of the team. Obviously it's a new team and we've not been in this situation as a group yet and new coaching staff.

To be honest I see it as an honour to be included in a coaches pick. They pick the players they want at the start of a season. I like being involved in it.