Bath and Barkley coming back 'stronger'
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:00
Back in Bath colours: England\'s Ollie Barkley
Olly Barkley may have spent one season away from Bath Rugby at Gloucester but the player himself insists his heart never left the club and that he has returned more determined than ever to make his mark at the Rec.
Now that he is back he is not only being put through some of the hardest training he has ever endured, but is, only now, fully comprehending exactly what he left behind 12 months ago.
"There are all the things that you don't know you miss and then you get back here and you realise quite how much you did miss them.
"From doing weights at the University [of Bath] to going out on the field and things just running like clockwork."
However, now that things are running like clockwork, he is faced with the gruelling pre-season regime led by Head of Strength and Conditioning, Paul Bunce and Barkley was keen to get a head start over the summer.
"It has been extraordinarily hard," admitted Barkley.
"I met ‘Buncie’ before I came back and said that I be starting training a little early which was the reason I didn't go on the England tour so that I could start conditioning early.
"He has been great, superb. From the weights training to the way that he has managed people - I can’t say a bad word about him."
Much has changed at Bath in the last year, indeed the last few months, and Barkley is happy to admit that it is not an ideal situation for the club to find itself in. With an impending disciplinary hearing for former captain Michael Lipman, Alex Crockett, Andrew Higgins and Justin Harrison, Bath have been in the papers for all the wrong reasons recently.
Now though, according to Barkley, is the time for the players to stand up and be counted.
"Obviously the personalities from last season aren’t here and those were big personalities and big players in terms of their impact on the field, but in terms of the way that we have pulled together off the field, we have no choice but to circle the wagons and to bring everyone together.
"When something like that occurs you have two choices - You can either go one way and talk about it behind closed doors and break the squad up or you can come together and draw a line underneath it and make a stand as to how you want to be seen as a club, as individuals and as players.
"As of now, our lines are drawn underneath it all and the early signs are really positive."
Having withdrawn himself from England selection to concentrate on Bath, this 27 year-old is obviously keen to make the most of his second stint at the Rec.
"I think any experience that takes you out of your comfort zone has that effect on you. It was a very different lifestyle for me being at Gloucester, the style of play there was very different from what I had been used to and the new dynamics and new supporters and all that sort of thing changes you as a person, but for the good.
"As long as you can take the good from it and learn from the bad, it makes you a stronger person."
With thanks to Bath Rugby.
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