ANOTHER quiet night, with a development meeting after dinner my only commitment on Wednesday evening. We have these meetings regularly and basically we just go in and have a bit of a chat about ourselves and about how we’re approaching this year in terms of our own individual attitudes.

There were probably about 10 of us last night. I find the sessions really helpful in that it just gets everything out in the open and lets everyone know where each other is at.

I think these sorts of things are really beneficial in the long run because it just lets you know where you sit within the group. Everyone’s always pretty honest and upfront.

I was tucked up in bed after that by about 9.30pm and was up at 7am this morning and off to the Tasmanian Institute of Sport for a weights session with about half the group.

After that it was off to Aurora Stadium for a Super Clinic which was good. We had a pretty good turnout and the kids enjoyed themselves.

A few of the guys were picked to do an adventure tour at Hollybank park after that so the rest of us tagged along for a bit of lunch and a few photo opportunities. The tour group went up on these high-wire cables and sort of went down these massive flying foxes right up in the tree tops. I followed along for a while on the ground just to see the reactions of the lads. I had a real laugh as they spun around up in the air high above me.

It was really funny watching Buddy up there, absolutely petrified, with his knees shaking and all the boys were having a massive laugh because he was giving it to a few of the boys before, saying how he wasn’t scared and all that.

We all went back to the hotel after that and had a few more meetings and then some dinner.

I’m focused on the intra-club match tomorrow now, and I can’t wait to get out there. It’s been four months in the making and all the boys are really revved up. It’s the first chance to get out there and show how you’ve improved and what you can offer for the season coming up.

I’m actually pretty excited to be able to see just exactly where I’m at. I know a lot of guys say it, but I’ve had a really good pre-season. Compared to last year I’m feeling a lot stronger and a lot more confident in the group, knowing that I can compete with the big guys.

I’ve put on about five kilograms of muscle mass since last season and all of my weight training results have improved. I’m at the top end of the list now in a lot of those weights-based areas, so it’s time to get out there and put myself to the test.