State of Mind: Mental fitness even more important than physical fitness

Tom Davies says mental fitness is massive ahead of the State of Mind Super League round where the Warriors face Lee Radford’s Hull FC.

The winger, who currently leads the way in metres made in the Wigan squad, has admitted that the game takes more mentally than it does physically.

Davies made his debut in 2017 under Shaun Wane scoring six tries in the 2018 Super League campaign and quickly establishing himself as a fans’ favourite within the squad.

The hard working back has made a solid first impression and was rewarded after his debut season with the number two jersey for the 2018 season and is continuing to impress.

The youngster praises Steve McCormack and the team for what they do for the players on and off the field.

“My personal thought is that, if you look at any sport, it’s 60% mental and 40% physical,” said Davies.

“It’s huge. You can have all the muscles in the world but if your minds not in it and heads not there, it’s different.

“You have to look after that more than anything else. As a club we have people come in. We have a great welfare officer in Steve McCormack and it has huge importance. To get your best in a game, on the mental side you have be at your peak.

“We have a great welfare officer and every day we’re filling out forms on well-being and on a site about how we’re feeling.

“We are asked questions about tiredness, stress and how motivated we are to keep a deal of how we’re feeling. The club does a great job.

“I’ve had times coming in tired and if we write it straight away someone is coming to you asking and helping you get through it.”

This year’s Super League State of Mind round theme is Offload. Offload is a mental fitness programme that invites men to come and see how professional rugby league clubs manage and coach players in a range of ways to improve their mental fitness.

We asked Tom about some of his favourite offloads within the game.

“The best offload? Personally, when I was younger the NRL Grand Final in 2005. Benji Marshall flick pass to Pat Richards.

“In Wigan, John Bateman gets a few out pretty well and Joel Tomkins. He’s got that strength and throws the ball out.”