HAWTHORN will finish its week-long Sunshine Coast training camp on Thursday confident it is on track for a strong start to 2012.

After reaching the preliminary final this year, the Hawks were one of the last clubs to start pre-season training.

The full group came back to work on November 21, leaving only a five-week training block before the Christmas break.

But, with the club's playing list now more experienced than it has been in some time, head fitness coach Andrew Russell has been able to fit a lot of work into that short timeframe.

"When you've got a more inexperienced group you might have 20 to 25 players who you can really push to their limits," Russell told AFL.com.au on Wednesday afternoon.

"We're in a situation where we feel we've got 30 to 35 players who can handle the workload required.

"It just means you can be more aggressive; you know the players' limits.

"You're always trying to push them to higher limits, but you know what they've been capable of handling in the past, so it's easier to manage their loads.

"It really means you have more players doing the really high performance-based training that you need your group to do to win premierships."

Whereas last pre-season's trip to New Zealand was more about conditioning and testing players mentally, the trip to Maroochydore has been strongly football-based - albeit still extremely challenging.

Players have been put through testing sessions at local ovals and gyms, complemented with circuits and recovery at the beach.

"The camp goal was that we wanted a high performance football training camp in an environment where the players would recover really well due to the climate and the relaxed atmosphere," Russell said.

"They can attack their training really hard, but recover between training sessions really well to be ready for the next session.

"It's really been about preparing for our season, through all aspects of our football program, whilst getting the added benefits of spending genuine time together."

At last week's annual general meeting, Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge used his address to warn the club's new players to expect a tough initiation.

Russell said they'd responded well to the skipper's challenge.

"The young boys have been good," he said.

"As with most young players in the system, we've managed their load, so they didn't do quite as much as our more senior players.

"But we did try and find out where their limits were as well.

"All of the players have been outstanding with their commitment to the program.

"We've been particularly impressed with their intent and application to everything they've done."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs