Will Chambers on St Kilda's pre-season training camp in Colorado. Source: CourierMail
WHILE surrounded with AFL players in Colorado's picturesque Rocky Mountains, Melbourne centre Will Chambers may have found the secret to realising his State of Origin dream.
Altitude training helped Cooper Cronk win a Dally M Medal, and with a Queensland centre position likely vacant this year, Chambers hopes his hard slog will prove the difference next season.
Chambers joined his cross-code rivals St Kilda early this month for a two week block of intense training in snow-bound Colorado, which dropped to minus 20 degrees at times.
It is a far cry from the 30 degree minimum temperatures of Darwin, where Chambers was raised.
The Melbourne star's voice still reeks of exasperation when the word "run" is brought up, as he found a new respect for AFL players during torturous training sessions.
"I struggled at stages. They run … a lot. They don't have as much contact as we do but geez they train hard and run hard," Chambers said.
"They are phenomenal athletes ... I do respect them for the way they train."
Will Chambers on St Kilda's pre-season training camp in Colorado. Source: Supplied
One session, a 32-kilometre snow hike in freezing temperatures, had several players on the verge of quitting.
The group also trained in Colorado University's Bubble facility, an indoor stadium with NFL-sized proportions, and met NFL team Denver Broncos for a tour of their facilities.
Chambers' trip sprouted from Storm teammate Cooper Cronk, who reaped great benefit from training with the Brisbane Lions in Arizona last pre-season.
For Chambers, it was an opportunity to gain a fitness base most NRL players are never pushed to.
Veteran centre Justin Hodges is unlikely to recover from his achilles tendon injury for Origin I, meaning Chambers, who was 18th man for Queensland last series, has a great chance to earn a debut cap.
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"It was good, different, but I enjoyed it. It was something to freshen me up a little bit in some way," Chambers said.
"Cooper did it last year with the Brisbane Lions and I thought it might be beneficial.
"It obviously gave him some benefits last year, ending up going on to win the Dally M.
"I just thought if it is going to give me a little bit of a boost and a good start to the year I thought I'd have a go at it.
"I got to experience what an AFL pre-season is all about - and it was tough.
"Obviously they do a lot more running so I've built a good fitness base going into the season and pre-season. That's an important part, especially at the start of the year."
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