Singe told the court how Titmuss had shown no signs of being distressed throughout the session before complaining of cramping as teammates stretched inside the dojo.

He requested two players help him to his feet, according to Singe, before the head of performance helped him move back towards a wall. Singe said he then realised something was seriously wrong.

Titmuss started fitting, with the court hearing earlier in the inquest the budding NRL player started involuntarily howling and moving around the floor of the dojo.

He died in Royal North Shore Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest, with an attending paramedic saying his body temperature of 41.9 degrees was the “highest they’d ever seen”.

The inquest heard Titmuss recorded the lowest score of any player in the club’s yo-yo test – a running test between markers 20 metres apart to gauge aerobic capacity – in the screening days before resuming formal training, and had put on more than four kilograms in the two months of the off-season. He weighed 116.8 kilograms when tested by Manly performance staff.

GPS data from Manly’s first pre-season training session found Titmuss covered 6.7 kilometres during a 90-minute field session before players jogged to the nearby dojo for further conditioning.

Singe agreed with Casselden that Titmuss’ body composition might have put him at a higher risk of heatstroke on the first day of pre-season training, but couldn’t remember whether the Sea Eagles used a Kestrel device to take a heat stress index measure on the day.

He said the reading would have been green anyway as the maximum temperature at nearby Terrey Hills did not reach 25 degrees on the day.

Asked if it was a demanding training session for the first day back, Singe said: “For the 36 players that completed the session, the numbers may look demanding but looking at the breakdown of metres per minute, max speed and heart rates … it’s a solid session, but it’s not something that would be unusual in the NRL.

“We talk about Keith like he wasn’t supposed to be there, but he was supposed to be there. He was a good athlete. He was strong and powerful.”

Singe said he did not feel hot or uncomfortable in the dojo, and would have completed some of the conditioning drills with the squad himself, barring contact activity.

The inquest heard on Wednesday from the club’s longtime head trainer Alex Ross, who acknowledged he had a gear van with ice in it only metres from the dojo when the alarm was raised for Titmuss.

Ross ran to a nearby doctor clinic on the Sydney Academy of Sport campus to raise the alarm.

He said the only significant thing he noticed about Titmuss during the field session was when he shouted “what?” as Manly completed a 100-pass drill.

Players are asked to complete 100 consecutive passes without mistake under fatigue, and Ross recalls Titmuss making the remark when told the count had to be restarted due to an error.

Former Manly assistant coach Michael Monaghan is expected to provide evidence later on Wednesday.

Loading

Des Hasler, who was head coach of the club at the time, will front the inquest on Friday.

The inquest is examining the appropriateness of the response of Manly’s players and support staff to Titmuss’ medical emergency, and whether the training was too intense for his level of fitness.

The inquest is not a criminal trial and no Manly coaches or staff members have been accused of criminal conduct.

The inquest continues.