CAT CALL: Feeling the pace

CAT CALL: Feeling the pace

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First published 07:30 Friday 24 October 2014 in Sport

LIVERPOOL forward Raheem Sterling has been the talking point over many a pint in the past week after he was rested for England’s game with Estonia due to fatigue.

It is difficult for him. Often when you are tired you say well just get on with it.

You’re getting paid an awful lot of money and you should be able to cope with the games, but at the same time, with it being the England set-up, if he is fatigued to the point he won’t be able to do his job then you can sympathise with that a little bit.

I think in hockey there is an idea that you pretend not to be injured and you certainly would never say to a coach I need a day off I am tired, I couldn’t imagine it happening, not at our level.

I think a certain part of it is the players always want to play and it is also a bit of bravado. Hockey is a tough sport and you take on a bit of that characteristic as a player, you don’t want to be seen as being weak in any way, but you also feel like you are letting the other members of the team down.

I think there are similarities between the two sports when it comes to the difference between defenders and forwards.

We have three lines of forwards and often we are playing with five or even four defence men. So there is a certain amount of truth, when Sterling says that his style of game makes him tired quicker.

Especially in defence you can be strategic with your energy use whereas a forward needs to be constantly moving.

There are a lot of aspects that go into being fit enough to go onto the ice, pretty much every muscle group gets hit when you are playing so that is something you have to work on.

Having two games back-to-back on a weekend takes a bit of getting used to, when I first started I was finding the Sundays very difficult, but I think with time you get better at knowing what to do to recover properly on the Saturday night and Sunday morning.

I am sure if you asked any player they would tell you they are 100 per cent but I don’t think anyone really plays at 100 per cent during the whole season, that’s just hockey.