The Warriors have had another boost to team morale breeze through the camp ahead of their clash with the out-of-form Broncos this weekend in Napier, with UFC champion Israel Adesanya stopping by.
Prior to yesterday's news that Chanel Harris-Tavita was re-joining the team next year after a break from the NRL, the Warriors were also treated to another well-known athlete joining the ranks - for a training at least.
Adesanya, the current UFC middleweight champion after his emphatic knockout win over Alex Pereira last month, joined the Warriors yesterday at their headquarters to take part in the team's wrestling session while also giving a speech on his battles to get to the top.
Warriors hooker Freddy Lussick said he and teammates were shocked by Adesanya's visit.
The club is gearing up to face the Broncos this week in Napier knowing they have one of their own coming back into the fold in 2024. (Source: 1News)
“It was pretty surreal, it definitely caught us all off guard, we had no idea that he was coming in,” Lussick said.
“He wanted to come in and train with us and see what it was all about. Yesterday was an awesome experience to have him around.
“He had a good little speech for us in the team room, a bit about himself, his story and the challenges he’s faced and it was good to get on the mats and wrestle with him as well.”
While most of Adesanya's moves in the octagon aren't useful in the NRL, the session did allow players to work on some techniques such as taking down bigger opponents.
The students still have plenty to learn from the master though with Lussick admitting he was soundly beaten when he tried wrestling the Last Stylebender.
"He was cool, hopefully we’ll have him around again," he said.
“I didn’t wrestle him for long, but a few of the boys wrestled him for a bit. They had their hands tied up a few times, were in choke holds and all sorts.”
Warriors captain Tohu Harris also had his shot at the champ and came off second best.
“I was first up and he hadn’t been told the rules that we follow, so there was no chance in hell of getting him down,” Harris said.
“I got mangled up there a couple of times, but it was fun, it was a good experience and being able to go up against someone at that high level in their field is always a good experience and I hope he gets to come back and towels a few of us up again.”
It could definitely be on the cards with familiar faces turning up on the daily currently at Warriors HQ.
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