BEVAN French says that feeling “gassed” so many times after his late-season switch to fullback last year made him realise just how much work he had to do to get to where he needed to be this season.
French, the try-scoring sensation, will be at fullback for Parramatta when they kick off their season against Manly at Lottoland on Sunday.
It is the position he prefers and which he played in the under-20s, but when he got his debut in first grade last year coach Brad Arthur let him get used to it on the wing.
Then, for the last couple of games, French switched to fullback.
“It was a shock to the system, a real eye-opener,” French tells RLW. “I was absolutely spent after each of those two games at the end of the season.
“I was gassed after making long runs and stuff and I’ve done a lot of extra fitness work on top of our normal training during the pre-season. Extra sessions on the rower, extra running, things like that.
“Fullback is my preferred position and I played there in Holden Cup, but playing there is first-grade is something different again and it took a bit of getting used to in those last couple of games.
“It showed me where I needed to be in terms of fitness and we’ve gone pretty hard with that over the summer. Hopefully, I’ll go alright.”
Playing fullback in first grade may have been a shock to the system, but French’s natural brilliance still saw him score three tries in each of those last two games. The Eels won both – against St George Illawarra and the Warriors.
French only played 13 games last season, but he scored a phenomenal 19 tries to finish third on the competition list.
Replies
- I wonder whether he will do kick returns or whether he is still coached to pass the ball to his wingers to return?
- I wonder if he will be more of a ball playing fullback or stay as a runner?
- I wonder if his front on one on one defence is improved?
- I wonder if he will win the game for us with his attack or lose the game for us with his defence?
So many questions today.
Last year he was better suited to wing but hopefully another off season has improved his defensive weaknesses.