Graham Lowe: Climb that mountain

If there's one lesson that advancing age teaches men about town and old footy coaches, it's that size isn't everything.

In recent times most NRL coaches have worked on the theory that big is best.

As a consequence, players have spent most of their post-Christmas pudding and in-season training time bulking up with weight training.

As an old coach, I am willing to acknowledge that size is indeed important.

But I have been heartened to see in the 2005 pre-season that the clock has been wound back to my era when players were flogged unmercifully with a rigorous pre-season aerobic training programme that really sorted the men out from the boys.

This type of training produces much leaner players, who - with the right training combinations - are also much quicker and more agile than the monsters we have seen marauding through the NRL over the past few years.

The Roosters and the Cowboys have led the way with this method of aerobic-based training and their results in recent years show the benefits of this approach.

In a recent interview, Warriors head coach Tony Kemp hinted that his team would play a totally different type of game this season.

The reason he can say that is because his team have been through the punishment in pre-season training that teams of 20 years ago thought was normal.

The quiet man may well have served a warning to all other NRL teams that this will be the season all New Zealand fans have been dreaming of.

At this stage of the new season, everyone at the club is in love with everyone else. It's a far cry from the end of last season when many were thinking of divorce.

In fact, it is a great time of the year for all coaches, because they have not yet lost a game.

Kemp's hint is well worth heeding because his team look as if they will start a lot fitter than in previous seasons.

If this is indeed the case they will certainly be a far bigger threat in the competition than last year, when the bulky Warriors looked unfit and unsure of themselves.

There are some very optimistic noises coming from the Warriors which I find refreshing because confidence plays such a big part in success.

K EMP will be able to change the style of play both in attack and defence, because his players will be a lot fitter.

But no matter how fit they get, they still have to be able to play football, which is a point that seems to escape many modern-day coaches.

One of the things good fitness does is turn back the clock on some of the veteran players such as Stacey Jones.

With a solid base of Bethells Beach sand dunes and One Tree Hill runs under his belt, I am expecting the little stand-off to return to the form that can make him such a threat.

Last year the Warriors' power game was overplayed. Quite simply they were not able to keep up with most of the other clubs who were fitter, but after this season's pre-season training that power game will be able to be used as a shock tactic when and where it is needed.

Kemp's plan will be to run the ball much more, using the width of the paddock as opposed to the down the middle, crash-and-bash of last year that got them nowhere.

Although they will use the ball far more, I'm sure they will have more respect for it as well, which means removing the Hail Mary pass from their game.

I'm not suggesting they should play without flair, but mistakes from tired or lazy skills should be a thing of the past.

It has taken the club a long time to wake up to the fact that nothing can replace old-fashioned fitness.

The proof of this should be delivered with a good start to the season.

Steven Price and Ruben Wiki are the two prize signings but young North Queensland Cowboys back Nathan Fein is a great buy with his ability to play a number of positions including halfback, five/eighth and hooker.

Throw in his good kicking game and he could prove to be the NRL acquisition of the year.

A major concern for Kemp at the moment has got to be Price's recovery from his knee injury. But if any player had to have an injury, Price is the sort you know will handle things the best.

He is the best leader in the NRL but, like any player coming back from an injury of that severity, he will be under a cloud for a while.

Most current coaches are obsessed with interchanging their forwards but Price is the sort of player that needs to be on the field most of the game. To do that he needs to be totally fit.

Quite apart from that, his influence will have a hugely positive impact on all the Warriors, in particular fellow front rowers Iafeta Paleaaesina and Richard Villasanti.

Kemp's biggest challenge this year will be picking the best team each week, because he has plenty to choose from. If he gets it right often enough, this could be the Warriors' year.

Their first goal should be to finish in the top four.

With the personnel and potential they have got, and the fitness they are earning, if they can't achieve that we will see owner Eric Watson putting the cleaners through the joint.

It will be interesting indeed for both men about town and old footy coaches, to see if this new-found stamina can deliver the results that size alone couldn't.