‘King Wal’ claims gym crown

Adam Wallace-Harrison has taken out Brumbies’ 2006 annual ‘King of the Gym Challenge’.

The 115kg lock/backrower edged out pre-challenge favourite David Palavi who ranked in the top five for each of the strength and endurance components.

Wallace-Harrison says he was surprised to claim the title.

“It was a bit of a shock,” he said. “Palavs was a strong favourite but fortunately for me the rower doesn’t favour the shorter guys.

“I was pleased with my bench [press] and while my rower was good, with a bit of extra fitness I’m aiming to reach 400 [metres in one minute] by January.”

The King of the Gym Challenge involved strength (bench press and weighted chin-ups), endurance (90kg bench press and chin-ups) and anaerobic power components (one minute on the rowing machine).

Brumbies Rookie Matt Carraro was also impressive on his way to a bronze-medal finish on the back of strong results in the weighted and bodyweight chin-ups.

Meanwhile, Patrick Phibbs, who finished just one point out of third place, has returned the top result in this morning’s beep test during the Brumbies’ testing at the Australian Institute of Sport.

Phibbs says the testing is a good gauge of the players’ fitness.

“I’m feeling great at the moment,” he said. “Fitness-wise, I’m definitely ahead of where I was this time last season. Fitness has been a big focus for us this year. We’ve been working on operating under pressure and fatigue with a focus on using that to play an exciting and expansive style of football during the season.”

Phibbs is also expected to feature during Saturday’s grueling Mt Ainslie Challenge – the culmination of the Brumbies’ Athletic Performance ‘Challenge Week’. However, he will have to overcome race favourite and last year’s champion Julian Salvi, who is returning from the Prime Minister’s XV 61-19 win over Japan last weekend.

Others to impress during this morning’s testing session were newcomer Peter Playford, who was quickest over 40 metres, and Christian Lealiifano, who topped the vertical leap.