I know this isn't about pre-season games but about the pre-season only but anyway
Bennett sends Dolphins star Valynce Te Whare to boot camp to get weight under control
After being banished from pre-season training, Wayne Bennett has ordered a Dolphins star to attend a one-on-one boot camp
Wayne Bennett has revealed Dolphins cult figure Valynce Te Whare has been sent to a personal boot camp in a last-ditch bid to save his NRL career. Bennett said Te Whare has been stood down from Dolphins training for a fortnight and ordered to attend one-on-one ‘Fight Camp’ sessions with a personal trainer in a desperate bid to get his weight under control.
Exclusive images obtained by this masthead show Te Whare – nicknamed ‘Val Meninga’ – slogging it out in Brisbane’s humid heat with hard-nosed trainer Mark ‘Chopper’ Burgess, Bennett’s former conditioner at the Bronco. Te Whare was one of the feelgood stories of 2023, making a sizzling Magic Round debut against Cronulla and attracting cult status with his bullocking frame that won him an army of admirers at the Dolphins.
But Bennett fears the 23-year-old’s ballooning weight could destroy his promising NRL career. The explosive centre finished the season at 125kg and after putting on 4kg during one weekend on the eve of the new pre-season, Bennett had enough, calling on the no-nonsense methods of Burgess to whip Te Whare into shape.
Te Whare is off-contract at the end of 2024 and Bennett said he is doing everything possible to help the rookie succeed in the NRL. “I’ve sent Val away to get fitter – that’s the situation,” Bennett said. “He came back to pre-season way too heavy and too unfit to play NRL at that body weight. “He is doing no ball-work with us at the moment, our priority is to get him fit, so I’ve asked ‘Chopper’ Burgess to help out.”
The article then goes on to talk about "Mark ‘Chopper’ Burgess"
Wayne goes on to say he needs to drop a cool 11kg!
