Thursday 8 December 2016 12:43, UK
There's nothing like a full-on session of wrestle training to blow away the cobwebs of the rugby league off-season. It only lasts an hour or so but the physical exertion it requires is huge. I hate it!
No, really, I love everything about being a rugby player but you appreciate it more when you are sitting at home on your annual break, having a rest from the training. It sounds great in theory...having a lie in, no pressure to be at a certain place at a certain time. But you soon yearn for the old routine. It's good to get a bit of normality back.
Pre-season training isn't something you usually look forward to. This year though, it's a bit different. And that's because this time we are preparing for a season in Super League.
It starts with testing, things like shoulder and knee stability, strength tests in the gym, to see where you are at, running tests on the field. It's to get a baseline, to see where we can improve. None of the dreaded bleep testing though. Thankfully that's a thing of the past, I hated it.
I feel it's going to be a lot harder but the coaches are easing us into it. This is the third year of being full-time players so we are physically fitter than the part-time players, but this next season we will be up against teams who've been in a Super League environment for a long time. We've got to get to that level. We know this year there will be no easy games, no fixtures that aren't going to be massively challenging.
There is so much to look forward to this year. I can't wait for the first game, against Castleford live on Sky Sports on February 10, to tick off my first ever Super League game.
Then there's Magic Weekend in May, to play at somewhere like St James' Park is really exciting. It's such an iconic stadium. And then there are the Super League grounds I haven't played at yet...the new St Helens ground is one, Hull FC, Catalans.
The new lads have all joined us now in training and we're getting to know each other. Glenn Stewart has arrived and it's fantastic for players like me to have players of his experience and calibre at the club.
You can see what he brings, little things like in attack, for example, he'll say 'fix this up, do that', and you know yourself that's what should be done but maybe you doubt yourself.
He gives you that reassurance that you are on the right track, and he has done it at the highest level, for club and country in Australia.
Outside of training, we are still finding out about him, what he is like, as you do early doors. He is a little bit dry with his humour and we'll find out more about him as we go along.
Over the next few weeks we will find out a lot more about each other too, and how we are going to go in Super League. When we earned our place with our performances in the Super 8s last season we were on a bit of a high, and went straight to Portugal after our last game to celebrate. That was awesome, but now we have got to knuckle down and use these next few weeks to become as prepared as we can be for the challenge ahead.
For me, I still walk round the town and think of myself as just a lucky lad who gets to play rugby league for his home town club. I don't think 'Oh, I'm a Super League player', I think that will sink in as the season goes on - so much to look forward to.
For now though, back to training. Weights and wrestling, what's not to love?
Martyn Ridyard is a half-back who has played for his home town club Leigh Centurions since 2009, and in 2016 was a member of the team which won promotion to Super league for 2017.
