Melbourne Day 4: Recovery Day

Today was used as both a recovery day from yesterday's victory and a preparation day before our match tomorrow against China. China lost their first match to S. Africa 146-0. I'm not sure this is an indication of South Africa being that good or China being that bad. This is China's first International Cup, but we have made sure not to look past them to the big battle with South Africa that's looming on Monday. I have been given the day off which I will probably be thankful for in the week to come with 3 more games of football still to be played in such a short time. China will certainly have a difficult time scoring their first goal of the tournament against a starting back line that includes 3 of my San Diego Lions teammates with Brandon and Viking at the back pockets and Donnie at Center Half Forward.

We had a good training session today at the Western Bulldogs practice facility. Ater watching their very crisp training we were able to use their facilities and then taken through a film session with their assistant coach. They were very supportive, and it was great getting a behind the scenes look at a professional AFL club.

One thing I didn't get a chance to mention after yesterday's match is our post game routine which is actually a little bit odd. After every game we play in Melbourne we are treated to a 20 minute dip in Port Phillip Bay. This may sound nice on paper, but let me remind you that it is still in the heart of winter here. The water is hovering right around the 50 degree mark. Apparently there is no better way to get the soreness and lactic acid pushed out of your muscles than to dip in an ice bath, and it turns out that we have an incredibly convenient ice bath available to us at all hours of the day. The experience was not pleasant to say the least And possibly even more unfortunate is the fact that I am actually convinced that it worked. I may have to start taking ice baths all the time.

There is a crew doing a documentary on our journey all the way from selections to the tournament and beyond. I am very hopeful that they edit the part of us wading in the bay out...as I don't think we will be portrayed as "manly" as we'd all have liked.

I'm going to upload a few more random photos from the day, and hopefully I'll be back on tomorrow night to report a solid US victory over the Chinese side.

- Justin Valley
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