Leeds Carnegie stalwart Steve Carter is a highly-rated conditioner but his army career has also given a rare insight into team-building. 
The Yorkshire Post's Sam Wheeler spoke to him in this morning's edition of the paper.

Many ex-servicemen struggle to adapt to civilian life: according to a recent Shelter survey, they account for a quarter of Britain's homeless.
Steve Carter is too mentally resilient and well-adjusted to have suffered such a fate when he left the army a decade ago, but he accepts that he might not have coped with office work.
Instead, he managed to find an environment that was relatively similar to the forces: a rugby club.
For nearly 10 years, the former regimental sergeant major has been Leeds Carnegie's conditioning coach.
Clearly as tough and uncompromising as they come - as anyone who has survived his infamous pre-season hill-sprints will testify - Carter rose as high as he could as a non-commissioned officer in the West Yorkshire Tank Regiment of the Royal Dragoon Guards, serving in Northern Ireland and all over Europe.
"I loved it," says the 50-year-old, universally known as Scrapper. "But after 24 years, my time was up. I would have had to get out at some stage and at 40, I had time to start a second career.
"The thought of an office job was killing me, but being in this environment was easy for me. I can understand why some people don't adjust - you get institutionalised.
"There are a lot of similarities with the army here: the team-work, and you work very similarly, in a hierarchical structure."
Having played rugby union and rugby league in the forces, he felt he had something to offer in professional sport.
When he left the army in 1997, he did a diploma in fitness training, then worked as an unpaid masseur for the Rhinos for four months before they offered him a contract.
Soon, he became the Tykes' conditioner and he has become so attached to Leeds that last summer, he declined an invitation to join the England squad on secondment in the build-up to the World Cup because he did not want to abandon his club in their hour of greatest need.
"I missed an opportunity there," he says. "But this was such a big move for Leeds coming up, and it would have taken out the whole of pre-season. And I just love this club. I want to stay here. It would have to be something really excellent for me to move."
Carter could not have planned pre-season and left the execution to his subordinates because despite glorifying in the title 'head of conditioning', he is head of a team of one, plus the odd intern.
Most of his counterparts command small armies of personnel; where Leicester have five full-time senior conditioners, Leeds have just four bodies on their entire first-team coaching panel. Despite operating at such a disadvantage, he does a fine job, as the England set-up clearly recognised.
Leeds may not be able to match some of their exalted Premiership rivals for skills and pace, but they are rarely overpowered and rarely out-lasted. Carter has his men in peak physical condition. They are as brawny, muscular, fit and durable as can be. As well as being the demanding task-master one would expect of a former sergeant major, Carter is receptive to new ideas.
"You have to keep up with current trends," he says. "A lot of things are fads, that go in and out, so you stick to what you know. But things come along that have a valid point. I'm trying new things now for next pre-season, trying them on myself, and on  Daryl Powell. He's my guinea pig."
With his military background, Carter knows a thing or two about building team spirit. He organises army training camps for the squad every year, which he believes are vital for bonding.
He says: "The forces have been in existence a long time and they're probably the best team-builders on the planet. If you want to get a team together with a bit of fun and a bit of hardship, you can't go wrong with the forces."
Leeds have invariably been noted for their team spirit, which noticeably dipped in the relegation season two years ago. What appeared to be the best squad the club had ever had failed to add up to the sum of its parts. Carter could see that something was not quite right before the season began. "I think I could tell," he says. "There were great blokes that last team, but they didn't all really mix and gel. It didn't feel as much like a team. This squad have, since first week we've had them. They've had that unity.
"They've also got better physical statistics, in terms of major lifts, power clean, squat, bench press, chins and dips, and 10m speed. You'd assume that the 'all-singing all-dancing best-team-Leeds-have-ever-had' would have been better but that's not the case, and I've got the stats to prove it.
"This squad has the togetherness, as well. Obviously we're struggling a bit this season. A lot of the guys have never played in the Premiership and it takes time to get used to the speed at which things happen.
"The guys are learning. It's going to be a tough challenge but it's certainly not over yet."