I trained with Wigan Warriors - and it was brutal

It was a second attempt at the gruelling cardio training - the less said about the first, the better - which was met by a mixture of laughter and bewilderment when I showed up at 8:00am in the cold and dark.

The half hour commute was spent questioning my decisions, remembering how tough it was 12 months ago - and how many Christmas do’s I had enjoyed in the lead-up.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the most unfit person around – although I’d like to lose my gut! Regular 5ks with around 26 minutes completion time, touch rugby in Warrington, and completing my first ever half marathon last year in 2 hours 8 minutes. But I’m certainly no Aaron Bower, who absolutely smashes every run and would easily - I would say - out-fit the entire rugby league media scene.

But no matter what I had done in the past, nothing would have prepared me for what was to come.

Meeting at the car park, the coaches headed over to the seafront first before head of performance Ian Bentley returned to the players, starting the morning with a light jog to the starting point.

It was then another jog down the beach - to a post in the sand - and back, and already I’m remembering how gruelling it is to run on sand. There’s something extreme about the surface, with no grip under your feet and extra power needed from your legs. It was nothing however of course to the first-team players and academy youngsters, knowing that would be the easiest thing they’d do all morning.

Warm-ups and stretches followed, before a look at a whiteboard to see groups and heading over to the sand dunes behind us to begin the demanding session.

I started in group five - joining the likes of Harvie Hill, Tyler Dupree, Sam Eseh and Liam Byrne, but they were immediately ahead of me as we sprinted up this hill of horror, with head of strength and conditioning Chris Barron at the bottom with his whistle telling players when to go - and it was constant. Four or five runs with my group and I was already gasping for air, with my legs wobbling. “Rugby league players are unbelievable,” I thought.

At least five more hill sprints came for the players - more than 10 altogether - who knew to give it their all with all coaches watching - including boss Matt Peet and new academy head coach, Matty Smith.

Body language was a key talking point amongst the playing group, told to stand tall and to take every breath in. ‘No hands on your knees,’ Sam Walters shouted over to me. The mentality was strong, eager to show no signs of weakness.

Encouragement came from the first-team players and leading academy youngsters to the entire group, with one in particular standing out to me; Harvie Hill. The 21-year-old took on a leadership role through his words and actions, supporting and motivating the academy players. Watching him, it would be easy to predict that he’s in for an even bigger and better season in 2025, having featured 16 times across last season, including the record-equalling World Club Challenge triumph.

It was a savage beginning to my Monday morning, with a quick drink break before splitting off into larger groups and different sections - all of them, more hill sprints.

First, I joined prop Hill and Tiaki Chan up the steepest hill of the day, required to use all your power in your legs to get you up, making sure you made it over the line and not cutting short - and, like the opener - making sure you jog down as well while trying to get some air into the lungs.

The middle part included tackle bags, led by assistant coach Sean O’Loughlin, with three hits before - you guessed it - a run up some more sand dunes. The youngsters doing all they could to impress and the first-teamers leading the way with support.

The final part was the longest, this time starting by running downhill - told to begin strongly - before returning to make the top of the hill again. I was, of course, last in my group but was egged on by everyone to make it all the way and finish strongly. A few pats on the back from the likes of Dupree and Hill as I crossed the finish line, with a sense of accomplishment. It wasn’t over just yet though, told it’s back to the opening hill sprint to finish the session - ‘Not again!’ I thought. The energy is drained by this point and your legs are feeling the work after around 90 minutes - but I was invited to join, so I couldn’t give in now.

It felt like it went on forever, losing count how many more hill sprints the players completed, while I joined in with different groups along the way - encouraged some more by players making their way back down. ‘Come on, journo,’ shouted Jack Farrimond. Kruise Leeming also with words of encouragement as we made our way back down together. ‘How does this compare to Gold Coast?’ I asked, ‘It’s definitely not this hilly!’ his response. The hooker was among those that impressed me with their fitness, as well as back-rower Walters and newly-promoted academy youngster and outside-back Nathan Lowe.

‘Regretting this?’ asked head of sports science and analysis Jack Phillips. ‘I’ve done better than last year!’.

Pushing through, every player giving their all knowing that it’s the last one before a break. Eventually, everyone was at the bottom again. ‘You’re done,’ shouted coach Bentley. ‘Don’t believe them until you’re in your car,’ I heard someone shout. I was worried at this point we might be heading for a dip in the sea!

Thankfully, though, it was over. A round of applause for joining in at the end, before head coach Peet got the whole group into a circle with the final say - I had stepped away by this point.

To the car park, head chef Stuart Robinson had provided the players with some goods as I cramped up badly trying to take my trainers off. I’ll probably be getting sand out of them for the next few weeks.

Although brutal, sore by the time I drove home, it was a privilege to join the Grand Slam champions - and BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year - for their final training session before a Christmas break. Mentality is a word we often use when describing about the Cherry and Whites, and that was a huge part of the session.

The players certainly put Warriors into Wigan, and I’ll certainly be sticking to the media bench.