He may have won an Olympic silver medal with the All Blacks Sevens team, but Will Warbrick has to do the same rite of passage that every other young player at the Melbourne Storm has done.
Via: David Long / stuff.co.nz
The 23-year-old Warbrick from Kawerau has switched codes, joining the NRL club for the next chapter in his career.
But there’s a ritual Warbrick has to go through, which Storm coach Craig Bellamy insists every new player does.
This program sends all first-year players out into manual labour jobs, like digging trenches, painting or moving concrete in wheelbarrows, while having to train in the morning and evening.
It’s all far removed from travelling around the globe on the World Rugby Sevens Series, or winning a medal for your country in Tokyo, but it’s the Melbourne Storm way.
"I’m back on the tools. I thought I cracked it, but I’m back on the tools,” joked Warbrick.
“But it’s all good, it’s what I did a few years ago, before I made it into sevens. I was working, doing my own training programmes.
“But I understand why they’re doing it. Backing up work with some of these trainings is going to be a good test for the mind and saying goodbye to some sleep.