O'Connell said that the atmosphere in camp is good and that while there is a tournament to think about there is still a traditional summer tour feel to the build up.
“It feels like a summer tour, really, and I think it’s exciting to have a competition. And we certainly want to be at the business end of it come November. But it feels like a tour and that’s what we’re trying to make it like. I think you learn a lot about each other as a group.
“You develop a little bit more on tour because you’re not going home at the weekend. You’re not catching up with your family at the weekend. You’re together all the time. So, we tend to get an awful lot of work done when we’re on tours.
“We tend to, I think, take big strides as a team in terms of trying to improve and evolve. So, even though it’s a competition, it feels like, and we’re probably treating it like a tour.”
O'Connell said that the squad have settled in well with a day trip to Manly Beach as part of their post travel recovery followed by a full on training session today.
“We arrived on Tuesday evening. And Wednesday morning, we got the ferry to Manly. We had a nice morning out there. And the weather was beautiful, a lot better than it’s been in the last few days.
“So, it kicked us off nicely. We have a gym across the road. We’re training in Leichhardt Oval, which is a little bit of a bus drive, but it’s a beautiful training ground. And we’ve been lucky enough with the weather when we’ve trained as well. So, it’s good.
“Everyone is training and trained hard and trained well today. So, everyone’s fine.
“We have tomorrow off. I think some of the lads are going to the rugby league this evening. A few lads are going out for dinner. So, yeah, it’s been good. It’s a great city to be touring in.”
