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Gareth Thomas was given a tough introduction to Super League training in Wrexham today, and warned that there was plenty more punishment to come.Iestyn Harris, who is more than two years younger than Thomas but retired at the end of last season, put his former Wales rugby union captain through the mill in a conditioning session for the young Welsh players in the Crusaders' development squad.It was a tough session, and we intentionally made it that way," said Harris. "League is a different style of fitness to union, with a lot of up and down. We've got to get him used to that in a short space of time, but he handled it exceptionally well."Physically he looked great. But he's got a bit of work to do on the play-the-ball stuff. He was a bit scratchy on that – as you'd expect because he's never played the ball before – and also on understanding the terminology of the game.He has been seeking advice through his Twitter account from Lote Tuqiri, the former Wallaby who left Leicester at the weekend to return to league in Sydney with the Wests Tigers. The Tigers are hoping to include Tuqiri for their opening game of the National Rugby League season against Manly next Monday, 24 hours after the England forward Sam Burgess makes his eagerly awaited competitive debut for Russell Crowe's South Sydney against the Sydney Roosters. |
