Stay tuned for the next instalment of Joe's Diary when Joe returns from Europe in mid-August.

Welcome to Joeyville!

As most of you know, we started pre-season last week. It was our first official day on Monday, July 2, and after a week of training and getting to know the new boys in our team, I personally think it’s going to be a great year.

The whole of last week was great, there was so much intensity on court with everyone giving 100%. We got through a few of our team offences and defences – not the exact plays but a model of what we will be doing to start to get used to it. Yes, there is definitely a lot of running involved!

The first week hasn’t been as bad as people may have thought, as the majority of guys have been playing in the off-season and have come in with a great base already. For the new boys who have started working with Val, our strength and conditioning coach, they will start to see massive differences, like our very old Jacob Holmes.

This Friday Jacob and I leave for the final Boomers camp on the lovely Gold Coast – bad luck to Ryan Gardiner and the crew for having to stay in Melbourne. But in all honesty, I can’t wait to go up and train with the boys.

This camp is pretty much it for the Boomers this year, with 18 guys invited and 12 to be selected for the tour of Europe later this month. I’m guessing the team selected to tour Europe will be the same for the three-game series against New Zealand in August, so all the boys will be busting their b@lls for a spot.

Brad Hill and I moved into our new place late last week and we’re still trying to work out how to be men. We’ve got everything in and we’re loving the freedom and responsibility of living by ourselves. And yes, I did cook dinner last night. I can’t wait to get a dining table to sit at, or a fridge that doesn’t tilt because I broke the leg moving in. So if anyone needs a place to stay, there’s a spare room for you!

While we were moving in my father came over to help and to bring some furniture across from Adelaide. He drove over last Friday and left on Sunday and had a great time helping me move in, buying things for my place and watching me play for Sandy. There was just one downer from his visit – he lost his wallet with all his cards in it and he was fuming! I think he lost the rest of the little amount of hair he had left.

All in all it was a great week of training and moving into our house. Next week will be hectic with the Boomers camp, but I will let you all know how it goes.

Here are the answers to some of the questions sent in by fans.

Monica: Is Happy Valley in South Australia similar to Melbourne?
Happy Valley is fantastic, its a LOT less busy then Melbourne but I love it. I have lived there nearly my whole life and yes, like Jacob, I will definitely be retiring in Adelaide.

Who do you get your height from?
We are still to this day trying to work that out. My mother is extremely short and my dad is about six foot. A few generations ago there was a bit of height in the family but nothing that was really passed on, so overall I’m a pretty lucky kid I reckon.

Andrew: How is your Sabres teammate Simon Conn going with the Crazy John's South Dragons?
Simon is doing well, obviously it’s a big step up from BigV training and, like everyone, he has a lot to learn but for his first week of training he is doing really well. If you didn’t already know, Simon has played college basketball in the States and has played a year professionally in Poland, so he’s no stranger to the professional basketball world.

Well, that’s all for this week. Will let you all know how the Boomers camp goes…

Jingles #7

Got a question for Joe? Email Joe HERE.