PAUL Rowley is putting the accent on quality as well as hard work as he puts Leigh Centurions through their paces as a warm-weather training camp in Lanzarote.

The Centurions flew to the Canaries on Tuesday to step up their preparations for the Kingstone Press Championship opener against Bradford Bulls on February 15.

And head coach Rowley sees the venture as a key factor in his pre-season programme.

“We have four training days with two days that involve travel,” he said before the squad jetted out.

“It will be four solid days. When you break it down it doesn’t sound a lot but the volume of training that we can get through is considerably more than what we would do on a normal week.

“We’ll probably get an extra session, maybe two in a day, but it is more about the quality that we can do on the field. Each day is full. We start at 7.30am eating together for breakfast and the days will finish at about 9.00pm.

“We’ll spend a lot of time on our legs there, a lot of time ball in hand.

“We are not governed by the frost or the rain. It allows us to speak more, understand and do a lot more teaching and make sure we are all on the same page.”

Warm weather training is a far cry from a year ago when Rowley used a marines camp in Lancashire to help bond his players in preparation for what turned out to be a Championship and Grand Final-winning campaign.

“It is a luxury and we are very fortunate to get out and do that.” Rowley acknowledged, reflecting on the contrast in the pre-season programmes.

“We’ll spend some time together and really get some miles under the bonnet in preparation for the season ahead.”

But he was quick to dismiss suggestions the club, now operating with a full-time playing squad, was stretching itself financially.

“Many people think we are racing ahead and are suddenly a club that is covered in money,” he said.

“We are still a club that has to work hard and multi-task and we’ll all do that.”

Rowley admits the “full-time” tag Leigh will take into the new Championship season could be a motivation for opposition teams to raise their in an effort to knock them off their pedestal, but he insists the club has not become extravagant.

“It’s almost a burden of being full-time that everyone will take the pressure off themselves by saying we aren’t meant to beat them (Leigh) and if we do beat them it’s a minor miracle,” he explained.

“But ultimately our part-time squad, the same personnel, have become full-time.

“We’ve not suddenly recruited Darren Lockyer or people like that.

“We are the same team that are now fortunate to be full-time but you have clubs who will dodge that tag.

“Halifax are a good example. One of their players wanted to sign here but he could get more (money) part-time at Halifax than he could full-time at Leigh.

“What people say they spend and what they do spend are two different things.”