Fowler `great` after tough Fury sessions

Sun, sand and snorkelling no doubt featured heavily in A-League newcomers North
Queensland Fury's pitch to Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler.
The bit about brutal training sessions may not have made the brochure.
However, Fowler has delighted Fury staff after embracing a testing acclimatisation
program in the lead-up to their A-League debut.
Training for the 2009-10 debutants does not officially start in Townsville until
Friday.
But prized recruit Fowler has hardly been wrapped in cotton wool since arriving in
north Queensland last month.
Fury boss Don Matheson said Fowler had impressed the club's strength and
conditioning coach Alan McCall during a series of gruelling sessions in their
Townsville "heat chamber".
In a program devised by McCall and a James Cook University heat specialist, Fowler
has trained in the climate-controlled chamber for the past week with impressive
results.
The 33-year-old has worked hard on an exercise bike for up to 80 minutes at a time
in conditions set regularly at 32 degrees and 75 per cent humidity.
Matheson said McCall had been "delighted, very happy" after Fowler's heart-rate,
core temperature and sweat output had all improved dramatically by the end of the
week-long sessions.
Fury coach Ian Ferguson was hardly surprised that Fowler had hit the ground running
after arriving two weeks earlier than the rest of the squad to acclimatise.
"He's come here with a cracking attitude," Ferguson told AAP.
"Doing work in the chamber in those conditions was always going to be hard but
credit to him he has come through with flying colours - he feels great.
"He's definitely putting the effort in.
"Then again, he's always had a good attitude for the game. He loves football and
loves putting the ball into the net.
"He's done it over the years. No matter where he has gone he has put the ball into
the net and it's going to be no different here."
Ferguson could not hide his excitement about Friday's training session, describing
it as "an historic day".
"Since November I have been waiting patiently for this day to come," he said.
Fowler shared his excitement.
"They seem well set for the first season, it's exciting times for everybody
involved," Fowler's agent George Scott said.
"Hopefully he (Fowler) writes a bit of history for them.
"He's been a hero at Liverpool, he'll always be a hero at Liverpool.
"But sometimes it's time to move on and he can't think of a better life."
Thirteen of the 23-man squad will attend on Friday with the rest of the squad -
including highly touted Scottish defender Scott Wilson - to arrive in north
Queensland by early July.
Fury players to attend Friday's training session are: Fowler, Robbie Middleby, Chris
Tadrosse, Jacob Timpano, Ufuk Talay, Jason Spagnuolo, Brendon Santalab, Marton Vass,
Beau Busch, Chris Grossman, Fred Agius, Paul Kohler and Justin Pasfield.