PREMIERSHIP onballer Joel Corey has given Geelong’s pre-season campaign the thumbs up despite admitting the delayed start brought about by the Cats’ premiership triumph had put the team at a disadvantage.

“You would think [other teams] would be better prepared having started four or five weeks before us, but I’m not too worried about that,” Corey said, adding the late start would affect the club’s approach to this year’s NAB Cup.

“Seeing as how we started a few weeks after everyone else in pre-season [I think] we’ll be using it for a bit of fitness, [but] when you’re in a football game you don’t choose to lose at all so we’ll be trying to win.

“Training’s always hard and you’re always trying to replicate a game and you can’t really do that until you’re actually playing, so it will be nice to get out on the ground and work on getting some chemistry back and getting a kick.”

Corey said the club’s fitness staff had adjusted the preseason program and was confident he and his teammates had the miles in their legs to mount a strong premiership defence.

“Going through and experiencing that, it’s a wonderful experience and there’s so much good come of it, why wouldn’t you want to experience that more often?” he replied when asked if the side still had the hunger to succeed.

When the Cats do take the field in 2008, they’ll have a slightly different look to last season with the club’s new logo to be joined by a golden AFL badge commemorating their 2007 Grand Final win.

“We’re not overly fussed really,” Corey said of the AFL’s new initiative.

“It’s the AFL’s call and if they want to put that on our jumper, then we’re happy to wear it.

“We didn’t know much about it until a couple of days ago when we tried on our guernseys for the team photo, [but] it’s no big deal for us; we’ll just wear it and play football.”

The players will have a four-day break from training leading up to the club’s departure for its community camp beginning on the Gold Coast from Wednesday, February 6.