BRILLIANT Geelong forward Travis Varcoe has returned to training in excellent shape after being touted as tradable during the off-season.
Varcoe was praised by teammate Tom Hawkins on the Geelong website as a standout since the Cats returned to work on Monday.
"… Trav was on fire today, he came back and was running at top speed which is sometimes not encouraged on our first day back but it’s fantastic to see - so there are some good signs for those boys,” Hawkins told Cats TV.
Varcoe, 25, was placed on the trade table by Geelong in October, but remained a Cat after a suitable deal did not eventuate.
At Essendon, star Bomber Brendon Goddard will return to full training next week as he builds his fitness following the calf strain he suffered during the Dons' altitude camp in Colorado in December.
Essendon doctor Bruce Reid has returned to work following his well publicised stoush with the AFL, and has been greeted with a healthy Bombers list.
“All of the list will be in full training," Reid told the club's website.
"There is a couple of shoulder reconstruction's from the off-season that we will keep out of full contact. The important thing is they are all out on the track, there is no one now that is not back in full training.”
“We are very happy with our injury situation at the moment as we were last year at the same time of year.”
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has told nmfc.com.au the Kangaroos will continue to play attacking football in 2014, despite a number of tight, heartbreaking losses last season.
“We’re not going to change drastically the way we play, what we’ve got to do is execute the way we want to play better,” Scott said.
“But the plan hasn’t changed. We went down a path a few years ago with the way we want to play and we executed that pretty well at times last year but not for long enough."
On the injury front, Scott said captain Andrew Swallow (Achilles) still believed he would be in the mix come round one.
Richmond is also in good shape, with club captain Trent Cotchin saying he is impressed with the club's new recruits, included ex-Carlton ruckman Shaun Hampson and former Brisbane Lions forward Todd Banfield.
In Sydney, Swans veteran Adam Goodes did some running drills, along with injured pair Lewis-Roberts Thomson and Mike Pyke.
Goodes is steadily building his workload after a knee injury ended his 2013 season in round 13.
“We’re looking forward to them getting back out into full training and the main group is starting to grow and we’ve been getting some full-ground drills into us, so it will be nice when those boys can join us,” teammate Kieren Jack said of the trio on Swans TV.
Rivals Greater Western Sydney are also enjoying some good news with the club moving into its new training base at Sydney Olympic Park.
The new centre includes an indoor training field, gymnasium and running track, and overlooks the club's training ground.
Goodes' brother, Western Bulldog player Brett, won his club's 2km time trial on Monday, in front of Jason Tutt, Stewart Crameri and Matthew Boyd.
In Perth, West Coast and Fremantle trained in sweltering conditions, with the temperature nearing 40 on Monday.
New Eagles coach Adam Simpson said training had intensified since the club returned to the track on Saturday.
