I'm withya...

Feka seemed to me to be topping the scales at about 278-285lbs [About 20st in old money For me he needed to be going in at 252lbs [18st To be at his devastating best. This weight would give him the fitness to be a decent player and not be found out in defence and also the weight and bulk to be the impact prop we all know he can be. Hopefully with the talk of him getting his weight down 20lbs he can get down to optimum weight in time for the new season.

18 Stone would be about the weight i'd be looking at Feka being. I'd guess he was just below that when he first came to Wigan but eveybody puts on abit of natural weight and he could afford a few extra pounds when he first came.

If he's about that weight at the start of next season and they manage to get some extra fitness into him he could be like a new signing. He's always there or thereabouts in the metres made stats and if you can get him fit enough to play just a few extra minutes and defend better we'll be well on our way to having the player we want.

Agreed. its just about balance. If he is better able to defend, and i'm not being critical, that frees up others to create space, instead of feeling they may need to cover.

i would not expect his game time to be significantly improved, it will go up a bit i would expect, but it clear he is genetically a fast twitch dominant individual, which gives him such natural power. These fibres cannot be converted to slow twitch fibres (although there is a floating group of fibres that can switch dependant on training, but these are not in significant amounts).

Any gains he will make will be most noticeable regards his agility and also his pace, hopefully this will improve his lateral movement and not make him such a target in defence.

I would be very surprised to see anything more than 20 minute bursts but hopefully these bursts will be more effective in both attack and defence.

His quality should significantly improve even if his game time does not.

Thanks for the technical stuff...

Saying that I bet you was one of the people up on your feet shouting his name when he scored in the play offs agains KR

Was he only 21 stone. I'm not being funny but he looked more than that to me. He will have a great season because his contract has one year to run and it's obvious he is making a big effort.

I can't see how Feka's game would be majorly effected if he did drop to the weight he was when he first signed.

At the end of the day the Feka we signed back then was a NZ international and he isn't anymore.

To be honest, I think all this theorising about what his ideal weight should be is a sign that we've nothing else to talk about.

Unless we're actually on the conditioning staff and have his medical records to hand, we're not really qualified to comment other than to say that he needed to lose some weight and get fitter, which he clearly has done.

Personally I'm excited to hear that the new coaches have got to grips with this problem very quickly. As someone else has said, if he's shed two stone in a month (with a month still to go before the season starts) and is regularly being sighted jogging up to Haigh Hall and back, that can only be a good sign.

I'm still bemused as to why this wasn't done before, but that is a different conversation, which we've already had several times previously.

Heard a rumour today that the players have been "cagefighting". Anyone else back this up? Surely not!

Surely that can't be fair on the cages?

Irrespective of his weight, and I really think he needs to lose some, I just hope the new conditioning team can get the best out of Feka this coming season, afterall Usain Bolt is 6' 5" and over 15st and he doesn't seem to do too badly.

But ask him to repeat his efforts in quick succession and watch him fade.

Bolt like Feka is very specialist and perfectly designed for what they do, you handle a specialist athlete incorrectly as I think we have in Feka and a major drop off in performance is inevitable.

No idea, but great training if they have.

"Cage Fighting" is a very emotive and mis-used term.

If the players have been learning the grappling aspects of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), then that is so far beyond the simple wrestling that a lot of teams use.

It teaches wrestling, but in an upright, fully dynamic position (i.e. the same position - standing - that they will be in on the field, and with an opponent who is trying to counter your attempts to take them down to the ground).

I would be all for the players being taught the grappling and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) aspects of MMA, and wouldn't be averse to them learning the striking game too, provided that injuries could be avoided.

The fitness levels required in MMA - Even for technical sparring (grappling/wrestling) for any period of time - are phenomenal. therefore, it would work on 3 main levels (probably many others):
1. Defensive Technique - Getting an opponent to the ground with minimal effort.
2. Attacking Technique - How to position your body to prevent your opponent from getting you to the ground (easily)
3. Stamina - The effort expended in practising just those "simple" drills is amazing. Worked regularly, the cardio levels could not but improve on whatever base level they are currently at.

Like I said at the top - I have no idea if it is true. But please, don't let the phrase "cage fighting" give you the idea that they are stuck in any kind of cage/ring and allowed to simply beat the snot out of each other (or anyone else). It is a highly developed area of excellence, requiring speed, strength, conditioning and above all else, technique.

Even if it's NOT true - The more I think about the positives, the more I think it would be an excellent addition to the training regime.

MMA wouldnt be beneficial, wrestling would but BJJ wouldnt as its back based. As far of useing it for fitness levels yes it would be good but not for technique.

I believe we employed a wrestling coach last year so cannot see this being true as its the only thing you need.

Any type of wrestling would be beneficial as it learns you top position and transitional dominance.

The pummel, a position used in wrestling, bjj and mma training is basicly the impact position of a tackle.

BJJ would be fantastic to learn as its about applying leverage to gain an advantage over a bigger stronger man, ie in a tackle. Also its completley knackering, and teaches you to conserve energy.

yeah but from a bottom position really, wrestling is from the top position.......cant see someopne tackling someone and trying to get position for an arm bar can you

LOL no im sure a armbar would result in a free kick, i meant more like hip escapes or side control pins, basic stuff, it also keeps things a little fresh as opposed to just doing the same training,

Greco roman would be great to learn, but there is a short supply of coaches in the area, so anything that others arnt doing is better, any way back on topic!

Just cos feka has lost a bit of timber dont mean he isnt going to be less effective, it could be argued he could be more, as obviously more fitness means more mins, and also basic physics, would you rather have a car drive over your foot at 5 miles an our, or a shot put dropped on your foot from waist height?

If he moves faster he can do more damage, force = mass x acceleration

That was my point really. Last season the job he was expected to be able to do I don't think he was in anywhere near the right condition to do it effectively enough. He was played as an impact prop, which I'm sure he will do again this season but, his condition led him to appear very cumbersome and an easy target in the defensive line after a short amount of time. This year I'm more certain he'll be in the right condition to get the best out him as an impact prop.

And 5 years ago, I bet you'd have said that a "rugby coach" was all you need.

Training/fitness regimes need to move on, I'm afraid. And if anyone seriously believes that MMA fighters are not among the fittest athletes (of any sport) on the planet, then they are sadly mistaken.

As to BJJ only applying "from the bottom" - Sorry , but the benefits gained in balance, flexibility, control and technique (both for putting an opponent down and getting yourself back up for a quick PTB) seem fairly obvious to me.

Quite frankly, if other teams are looking to utilise wrestling coaches, then we need to take the next step with MMA coaching, as wrestling coaches only genrally teach Greco-Roman (olympic) wrestling, whereas we need more rounded grappling which would combine both MMA techniques and Catch-as-catch-can wrestling (what you might know as WWE type moves).

What would BJJ offer that wrestling doesnt?.....I know MMA fighters are very fit so please dont put words into my mouth as I never implied this. Again where would it suggest 5 years ago a rugby coach was all thats needed.

You are making up comments not said by me to meet your own argument there.

plus how cool would it be seing someone omaplata lee briers!

would pay to watch that even if it resulted in 10 mins. Send McGuire down to the gracie academy see who/what he can pick up

I am sure the players will be simply working on contact grappling and core training in these sessions, looking for key pointers at winning the wrestle on the floor/methods of slowing down the PTB from a standing and ground position. Regards MMA I am sure the link will be from whoever is leading the sessions.

The fitness component is very different and would not be something a rugby league team would want to follow too closely. As stated above I am sure they will simply have looked at some core strength/stability exercises and wrestle/grapple contacts in the tackle.