PHOTO GALLERY > Wednesday's training session

Nick Maxwell says the players are using the South Africa training camp to ensure they are fully equipped to achieve greater things in 2008.

With the club having used their high-altitude Arizona camps in November of 2005 and 2006 to acquire a fitness base for the pre-season, the South African camp is conditioning the players from both a fitness and match scenario standpoint, with the team preparing for the pre-season cup match against Adelaide in Dubai on February 9.

After arriving on Sunday evening at the club's base in Potchefstroom, about 120 kilometres south west of Johannesburg, the group had an intensive training run on Monday, before focusing more on strategy on Wednesday, with the differences to the Arizona camps noticeable.

"The training's a lot different which is good," Maxwell told collingwoodfc.com.au after Wednesday's session.

"We went to Arizona in November so it was more based on fitness and getting up and going, where as now we're looking at games, and I think everyone's preparing for games so I think they're enjoying it a bit more.

"Today was a bit lighter. Monday was going to be light, but I think everyone was pretty fresh and everyone wanted to get into it after having the weekend off and doing all the travelling, so everyone was keen to get into it and have a pretty solid hit out."

More specifically, on Wednesday the squad took the chance to focus on the game plan.

"Today was more based on stoppages, and we did a lot of different work with our structures and moving the ball forward.

"I think the boys got a lot out of it, especially the stoppage and midfield boys, they had a really good hit out, so it's going to be good for them come Friday to have the full structure at either end of the ground."

With leaders Nathan Buckley, James Clement and Paul Licuria retiring at the end of 2007, Maxwell has identified some young players who have made noticeable strides in their leadership.

"It's good to see Danny Stanley, Ryan Cook, Sam Iles, those sort of guys who are three year players now, and Sean Rusling, that group.

"They're showing a lot more direction and they're a lot more confident, because they're all coming off such good pre-seasons themselves, and they're all super fit, so those guys have come out of their shells a bit more now, they've been around a few years and are starting to realise they can play at the level. Those four guys are going really well."

While the on-field training has so far been done on a rugby ground, the players will be using an oval on Friday for an intra-club practice match, while the off-field training has involved using the world-class facilities at the North West University, which Maxwell described as "sensational".

While the physical benefits of training at altitude allow the players to place more aerobic stress on the body than if they were at sea level, Maxwell also explained the benefits of the group travelling together from a bonding point of view.

"Obviously we've only been here a few days, but I think what it's done is it's brought everyone closer together.

"We're a tight group and we spend a lot of time together, which is good because you get to know everyone a little bit better, and a lot of the new guys who have come through are fitting in really well."

In comparing this camp to previous camps in Arizona, there are also palpable culture differences that allow the players to live and learn about another foreign country.

"The one (major difference between South Africa and the United States) is probably the safety aspect, we're told to always be careful where we're going.

"The headlines in the newspaper in the last two days have been ‘rapist gets raped' and ‘three cops shoot one another', so it's been a little bit of an eye opener for us, so safety's probably the main one.

"Apart from that, just different facilities, and we went out to the slums, and got to see what it is like for some of the people here who live in little tin shacks and it's obviously pretty hard for them.

"So it was good to get down there, give out a few hats, and get to know them a little bit, and cheer up some of the orphaned kids who were around, so that was a good experience for us."