Adelaide United has completed a mid-week beach session in a hope of refreshing its tired and inconsistent players ahead of its clash against Central Coast on Saturday.
The Reds normally head to Henley Beach the morning after a home game but with the team still smarting from their 3-1 loss to Melbourne Victory, the club decided to change its routine on Wednesday.
Defender Robbie Cornthwaite said a heavy workload on the training track wasn’t necessarily the answer to a loss like the one experienced at Etihad Stadium.
“It’s a nice recovery, the boys have been pretty tired and to relax the muscles, to come down into the sun and enjoy ourselves, have a bit of splash is good,” Cornthwaite said.
“We are out there every day training and working hard and it’s not always about just getting flogged and running your guts out.”
“You’ve got to take the time to recover and make sure your body is in the right condition come game time.”
“We’re old enough and experienced enough to know that the performance on Saturday night wasn’t good enough and Viddie doesn’t need to tell us that.”
Adelaide’s inconsistent form this season hasn’t been the only talking point surrounding the club with rumours of player disharmony and unhappiness reported throughout the season.
But Cornthwaite said the team was connecting both on and off the field.
“There is always talks about barbecues and teams doing bonding and things like that but we are there together every day doing what we love so if we can’t bond together doing that then you’ve got a real problem,” he said.
“All the boys are gelling together and working towards that goal of making the finals and hopefully winning the championship.”
“We’ve got a good structure and a good side we just need to start working as one and I think the wins will start to come.”
Meanwhile, Cornthwaite said the Mariners would be as determined as the Reds to make amends in Canberra after they too lost their arch rivals (Newcastle) last weekend.
“They have been keeping a very good defensive record, they are a very good team, even up front players like Matt Simon are a handful and we’ll have to be on our toes again to get the three points.”
