Despite training at the Cattery since late last season when he was still a Falcon, Blake said nothing could prepare him for the "intense'' 2004 pre-season campaign under Coach Mark Thomson and new deputies Daryn Creswell and Ken Hinkley.
"At the moment we are going flat out, as hard as we can go,'' Blake said after training yesterday.
"Sometimes we run so hard that I feel crook in the stomach.''
Son of 176-gamer, Rod Blake, Mark sits fourth on Geelong's list of rucking giants behind captain Steven King, and Paul Chambers and former Hawk David Loats, who are battling it out for the second rucking position.
At 199cm tall and still growing, Blake, with two VFL games already under his belt has resigned to playing reserves all year, where he will continue to learn his craft before an assault on a senior guernsey in 2005.
"At the moment my body isn't ready for senior footy,'' Blake said.
"Look at Steven King he is a monster. I've got to build my body up first, otherwise I'd just get pushed around.''
Thompson described Blake as a ``long-term project'' and said any game he played in the seniors this season would be bonus.
"He's coming along. All the young guys are on a modified training program to ease them into it but every boy struggles in his first year,'' Thompson said.
"King is our number one ruckman obviously. Loats and Chambers are vying for the second spot but if they are both out then that's when Mark will come into the picture.''
Weighing in at 95kg, Blake has spent much of the past six months in the gym where he has increased his strength to bench press 80kg.
"But it's not much compared to (fellow first year recruit) Matty Spencer. He bench presses about 115kg and lifts what I do as a warm-up,'' he laughed.
Highly regarded for his strong marking and tap work in the ruck during his two season's at the Falcons, Blake is also keen to add another dimension to his game and become a goalkicking forward.
But first he must continue to improve his kicking, which has been highlighted as his main weakness.
"I've done a lot of work on my goal kicking but I know I've still got to improve the consistency of my skills,'' he said.
"But not too much is expected of me this year, I just want to play consistent footy.''
