But that’s exactly what happened during the Western Bulldogs’ most arduous outing of their 2009 pre-season campaign.
Cross can be found fronting the Bulldog pack, lap after lap during long, hot summer running sessions, and he was again front and centre at Whitten Oval on Saturday morning.
But in a sight to warm up the enthusiastic Bulldog fans who showed for the unseasonable cold and wet training session, there was another player sitting right on his hip: skipper and club veteran Brad Johnson.
Injury free and thriving as a result, the 324-game Bulldog went stride for stride with the best runner in the team.
In fact, in the last big effort of the day, Johnson even appeared to get the better of the younger pup, outsprinting Cross over the final 150m of the lap of Whitten Oval.
As the exhausted group crossed the finish line in dribs and drabs to the encouragement of their coach, Johnson, as he does each week, led the men across the line.
A few steps behind him was Cross, who shortly after slumped to the ground as his captain, also gasping for air, wandered off arms on his head.
Those who had seen the morning’s session already knew it, but coach Rodney Eade later confirmed his veteran skipper was in fantastic shape.
“I would think that Crossy (Daniel Cross) is probably the best trainer I’ve seen in my time in footy but Brad Johnson just shows at his age, 32 going on 33, that he’s still got another two years in him at least,” Eade said.
“He still kicked 50 goals [last season] and people were critical of him and saying that he’s just about finished, but the injuries he had weren’t old man’s injuries.
“They were just knocks to the ankle, and he got a kick in the calf which calcified a bit and a couple of other different things.
“I think true to his courage, he was able to play on through that and I think with the pre-season he’s having at the moment he could have a big year.”
As Eade pointed out, some questioned whether Johnson had lost some spring in his step in 2008.
However Eade rejected any criticism of his captain, and said next year the man in the No.6 jumper will simply be trying to get back to playing his best footy.
“He’s certainly motivated but I just think he’s motivated by his own standards,” Eade said.
“I think he’s a victim of his own standards, I think great players are – when they set such a high standard, if they don’t reach it [every week] maybe people tend to question you.
“I think also too by the birth certificate, by his age, people say ‘Oh well he’s on the downward spiral’ but I don’t think that’s the case.”
