THERE will be nowhere to hide at Collingwood this summer, with new fitness boss Kevin White cracking the whip because of a handful of tardy Magpies last week.
A small group of players missed the start of a meeting last Wednesday, with their actions inflicting an additional 400m run on the entire training group at the end of a gruelling session.
Staff members and coaches who were also late to the meeting weren't exempt, with their punishment an indoor push-ups session while the players ran.
It's further evidence the Pies' fitness and coaching staff are refusing to take a backwards step this summer, after they unveiled a different type of program on Monday when their whole list resumed training.
The players were straight into match-simulation drills, with an emphasis on tackling and contested ball work, which is a far cry from the usual repetitive running and weights.
Those drills haven't been totally removed from the schedule. The players ran a 2km time trial last week, which was won by midfielder Tom Phillips from Josh Smith.
Defender Brayden Maynard finished fourth behind James Aish, which is a positive step in his bid to push into the midfield on a regular basis in 2018.
"It's obviously something I've got to work on, my fitness, to get into the midfield because we've got a very good midfield," Maynard told collingwoodfc.com.au.
"That's my goal for this off-season, I've got to build my tank up and I'd love to play in the midfield all year.
"You've got to run with one of the older blokes who's been in the midfield for quite a while and just follow them and try and keep up with them.
"I guess it's just being able to grind that out and keep pushing yourself until you actually cannot physically do any more."
White, from Ireland, has been at the Magpies for seven years after being offered a job following an international sports science scholarship with the club that ran for eight months.
He took over in the lead role this off-season after the departure of former high performance manager Bill Davoren.
White said his vision included the players using the footballs as early as possible, which has been met with enthusiasm from the group.
He also said there would be surprises this pre-season, which started when the first-to-fourth-year group wasn't met instantly with a time trial on their arrival back at the club.
"The new direction I'd like to see us go will be to move into the footy stuff as soon as possible," White said.
"I've worked closely with the skill acquisition coach Jamie Cassidy-McNamara to design drills which are football-related, but won't see too high intensity or a high change in direction early in the pre-season.
"We'll gradually build up.
"I think every year the players are prepared for some surprise elements of the program, which is footy anyway, so I think they were appreciative we put them on the hill on Anderson Street [at the Tan running track] rather than into a 2km time trial straight up.
"They handled it really well, I'm super happy with the condition the boys have come back in."
