Rugby league
DESPITE standing 186 centimetres tall and tipping the scales at 103 kilograms, Gold Coast Titans prop Michael Henderson said he won't be giving up the NRL for the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) any time soon.
"Definitely not, they're mad, they can have that," he said.
Henderson's blunt assessment comes during what the former Waratahs-product is calling his best pre-season in three years for the NRL's newest club, as he looks to cement his place as one of the toughest young props in the game.
"We've been doing some squash, basketball, some MMA because our wrestling technique coach has got a background in MMA so he was teaching us a few different things which was fun," Henderson said.
However, for the past three years Henderson has not been able to stride out regularly during off-season fitness sessions, with complications surrounding the metal rod in his leg, broken in 2007, stopping him from running for more than 10 minutes at a time.
But with the rod removed last season, Henderson said he is feeling better than he has in years and is ready to help the Titans in what could be their most exciting season in their short history, after finishing a club-high third last season.
“It was a good achievement to finish third in the competition because you need to be consistent to finish that high, and we were only one win off the minor premiership, and we competed hard every week,” Henderson told The Area News after training this week.
“But all of the players feel we saved our worst two games for the last two and I think we were a bit under prepared mentally for finals footy.
“We were playing round games where our opposition where playing finals games.
“The guys that didn’t play a lot of finals footy before last year will take a lot of experience out of it and hopefully they’ll learn that you can’t go into a finals game under prepared.”
Spurned by their 40-32 finals loss to the Broncos and one-sided 27-2 defeat at the hands of eventual grand finalists Parramatta, the Titans have improved their roster dramatically for 2010 by signing one of the game’s hottest free agents in Greg Bird, while there was massive hype surrounding Bird’s arrival at the club.
Henderson said the former-Australian representative was ready to atone for his mistakes, and realised the Titans had tossed him a career life preserver.
“He’s a great player and he’s just what we need, he’s got mongrel, he’s got aggression and he’s tough but he’s also very skilful and a very good footballer,” Henderson said.
“He’s had his indiscretions off the field but he probably realises that this is his last chance and he wants to make the most of it.”
But it’s his own playing time that Henderson is concentrating most on ahead of a busy few weeks before pre-season trial games next month.
“I’ve done a reasonable job for the club,” he said.
“I played about 20-odd games last year and a couple off the bench, but it’s been tough to not be able to have a run before Christmas for the last couple of years, but this year I’m training really well and I haven’t missed a session.
“I think if I can start this season injury-free I’m feeling pretty confident I’ll have a very good year, not just me but the side as well.”
The Titans have their first trial against the Brisbane Broncos on February 12, with full-strength trials against Souths Sydney on February 20 and the Cowboys on February 27.
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