Eddie Jones’ fingerprints are all over Manly’s preparations for their historic American debut, with the former Wallabies coach providing the blueprint for the club’s entire camp in Las Vegas.
While the Broncos, Roosters and Rabbitohs opted to stay away from the bright lights of Sin City until later this week, the Sea Eagles have set up camp at Resorts World on the strip and use nearby facilities, such as the UFC Performance Institute.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold was an assistant for Jones during his time in charge of the England rugby union team. One of the key takeaways from that stint was acclimatising to a region ahead of a Test match.
“It was a really successful reign that Eddie had with England,” Seibold told this masthead.
“In international rugby, you travel around the world a lot. One of the things that we would do in rugby, wherever we’re playing their first Test match, we would go there about 10 days before. We’d have a graduated approach to recovery, to starting to get moving and restarting the engine.
“We copied that approach from England rugby. We have been heavily influenced by that experience. You saw it with Penrith’s travel to England, it’s tough, it’s not easy.
“For all four teams, everyone’s got a different approach and it’s more than one way to skin a cat. We feel it’s the best approach for us.”
Jones was heavily criticised during his second stint with the Wallabies. After failing to reach the World Cup quarter-finals last year, Jones parted company with Rugby Australia to take up the Japan head coaching role. The prospective move was revealed weeks beforehand by this masthead and initially denied by Jones.
Seibold said he was indebted to Jones for reigniting his coaching career after his spell at the Broncos, and the pair remain in regular contact.
“He’s obviously got a new job with Japan, so he rings up to see what we’ve been trying to achieve in the pre-season and how we are looking to play footy,” said Seibold, who has added Jones’ former head of high performance, Jon Clarke, to his staff.
“I know things didn’t go well for him here in Australia, but he has had a lot of success over a long period of time as an international coach.
Eddie Jones has had an influence on Manly’s preparations in Las Vegas.Credit: Getty
“He is someone I respect and regard highly. He’s very demanding to work for but I feel like I’m a better coach for having worked with Eddie. He’ll ring from time to time or I’ll shoot him a text message.
“He had a positive influence on me getting going again with coaching after Brisbane. I ended up coaching 15 Tests with England. That was a pretty unique experience.”
The Sea Eagles believe they have struck the right balance of enjoying some of the Vegas attractions, while ensuring their preparation for the clash with South Sydney remains the priority. The entire team is scheduled to attend Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil at Mandalay Bay on Monday night [US time] after their first field session earlier that day.
Manly star Jake Trbojevic said settling into Las Vegas early would be advantageous.
“When you first get here, the aura of the place can get the better of you, so it’s good to get here early,” Trbojevic said.
“We can get all of that stuff out of the way and really get into the week. I’ve really enjoyed this, it’s been great. I haven’t been to Vegas before, so it’s a great life experience. We got a chance to look around when we first got here, now it’s time to knuckle down.”
Fellow forward Ethan Bullemor said: “It’s nothing new, it’s not like we’re going to get in here on Wednesday and get distracted.
“We’re staying where we are going to play, same conditions and everything. I feel really comfortable and it makes sense.”
Adrian Proszenko’s trip to Las Vegas was funded by the NRL.
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