Ben Te’o/wikipedia
By STEVE MASCORD
A TOP secret training camp under the Australian Institute of Sport’s Glen Workman has made Ben Te’o the man who can make the biggest difference in Sunday’s grand final.
Teo, banned for a month on a chicken wing charge in the lead-up to Saturday’s preliminary final against Sydney Roosters, stunned the competition with a powerhouse comeback, including an Herculean try, in the 10-point win over Sydney Roosters.
The rugby union-bound Teo refused to name Workman or say exactly where the training took place. It’s understood to have been on the Gold Coast, where the guru is based, and in Brisbane.
“Nah, I don’t want to talk too much about it but yeah I did a lot of off-site training,” said Teo “It’s been good. I met some cool people and it mixed up my training. It was good.
“I just want to get away because four weeks without playing is a long time. It ended up being five.
“Going away for two weeks and just to break it up and come back mentally fresh … Madge was happy enough to let me go after I tried to persuade him.”
While Souths received publicity earlier in the week for using experimental ‘patches’ under their wristbands and jerseys, Workman deals more in proven methods of making athletes stronger.
He started his rugby league training career on 1985 with Valleys and has served with the Broncos and a number of English clubs. Workman now specialises in kyak, diving, swimming, sailing and athletics practitioners, as well as talking on footballers occasionally for one-on-one training.
Teo said he was grateful coach Michael Maguire’s allowed him to leave Sydney during his absence from the playing field.
“I would have stayed around at training and got flogged every day. (I got flogged) somewhere else by someone else.
“It freshened me up mentally and I came back with a good attitude and that’s what he wanted me to do. I just tried to fight my way back into the team and play.”
Despite joining Leinster rugby union next year, Teo says we’ve not seem the last of him.
“I would love to come back, 100 per cent,” he said.
Filed for: RUGBY LEAGUE WEEK
Filed under: NRL, Rugby League Week Tagged: 2014 NRL grand final, 2014 NRL season, Ben Te'o, Glen Workman, Queensland Institute of Sport, South Sydney Rabbitohs
