Rugby College: Manchester United using New South Wales rugby league team"s training ground ...

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Manchester United using New South Wales rugby league team"s training ground ...

By

Ian Ladyman

PUBLISHED:

08:32, 15 July 2013

|

UPDATED:

10:35, 15 July 2013

VIDEO: Scroll down to watch, ‘DAVID MOYES: Robin will join us in Sydney’

Manchester United have already caused a stir since their arrival in Sydney after the Barclays Premier League champions were given priority access to a training facility usually used by the fanatically-supported New South Wales rugby league team.

NSW face bitter rivals Queensland in front of 80,000 fans in Sydney on Wednesday night in the deciding game of the prestigious State of Origin series.

The three-match event is one of the most talked about and prestigious events on the calendar in this part of Australia.

Landmark: David Moyes and Manchester United have already caused a stir in Sydney

Making a scene: Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs were on hand to mark United

Making a scene: Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs were on hand to mark United’s arrival in Sydney

Fighting fit: Robin van Persie, with assistant coach Phil Neville, trained as United use NSW

Fighting fit: Robin van Persie, with assistant coach Phil Neville, trained as United use NSW’s usual facilityÂ

However, NSW â€“ or the â€˜Bluesâ€™ as they

are known â€“ had to find somewhere else to train on Sunday after they

discovered David Moyes and his United squad had booked the WIN Jubilee

Oval for a warm down session on their arrival from Bangkok.

Despite the warm welcome David Moyes’ side have received, groundsman at the facility Stuart Collins was more nervous than anyone when United officials came to inspect the turf last year.

‘I nearly had a heart attack when they turned up because only a couple of days earlier I’d shaved the top of the ground off – it was bare dirt,’ he told Australian paper the Daily Telegraph.

‘I explained this was part of our normal routine and the grass would recover over summer. They took photos and every six weeks we would send them more photos – they wanted to keep a close eye on things.’

With United now training, group of players â€“ including

Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs â€“ will be at the ANZ Stadium to watch the

State of Origin decider on Wednesday and Moyes himself is trying to find

time in his schedule to attend the game.

Life through a lens: Ferdinand caught the action of United

Life through a lens: Ferdinand caught the action of United’s arrival on his own camera

Heated: The State of Origin contests between NSW and Queensland are one of Australia

Heated: The State of Origin contests between NSW and Queensland are one of Australia’s biggest events

Crunch clash: Wednesday sees the series decider between NSW, with Blake Ferguson, and Queensland

Unitedâ€™s arrival in Australia for the

first time in 14 years has been high-profile, with pictures and stories

about the squad appearing on the front and back pages of all the major

Sydney newspapers.

They will face a select team from the Australian â€˜A-Leagueâ€™ on Saturday in front of a sell-out crowd at the same ANZ Stadium and the coach of the opposition has already started his version of mind games with Moyes.

‘There is no doubt that Moyes and his players are under a high level of scrutiny with the change of manager and the whole world watching to see how they go,’ said Ange Postecoglou.

‘I have no doubt their motivation will be huge.’