I can't believe it's less than a month until the regular season kicks off; the summer has flown by, and I can't wait to play for premiership points again.
This has been my third pre-season with the club, and I have no doubt it's been the toughest thus far.
I reckon the intensity has probably almost doubled this pre-season, compared to my first summer at the GIANTS.
I put this down to a few reasons.
There's a reasonably big chunk of players who are in their third year - guys like myself, Dylan Shiel, Toby Greene, and Adam Treloar - and while your first couple of pre-seasons are such a massive shock to the system, especially considering you're quite fresh out of school, by pre-season three you're ready to take on a heavier workload.
Another factor contributing to the toughness of this pre-season is the fact we've had some mature recruits who've come into the club: Heath Shaw, Dylan Addison, Jed Lamb, Josh Hunt, and Shane Mumford, and they've really pushed the younger boys on and showed the way with their professionalism and work ethic.
Finally, the addition of the new coach Leon Cameron.
Leon has been brilliant since coming on board, and in the short time he's been at the club he has made a really positive impact; particularly with promoting the value of hard work during the pre-season, which should stand us in good stead to finish games more strongly this year.
There have been a lot of really strong performers over the pre-season, which should really encourage GIANTS fans going into season 2014.
The group of third year players I mentioned, who I think are really key to our performance this year, have pretty much all completed 85 per cent or more of the block of training, which is a great sign.
Outside of those guys, our new number two draft pick Josh Kelly has been absolutely flying, as has Tom Scully, who I think is set for a really big year.
NSW boy Jake Barrett is another who has been eye-catching.
He's a very hard in-and-under player, and with a pretty robust frame and a background in Rugby League he's one of the hardest tacklers at the club too.
But I've been really surprised by his tank!
Jake has been up in the top three or four runners all the way through the pre-season, and it's exciting to think he'll only get fitter the longer he's in a professional AFL environment.
The excitement levels are through the roof around the club; especially considering we've moved into our brilliant new facility at Sydney Olympic Park, which is a fantastic place to come to every day.
The boys don't have to travel around as much between training, recovery, and other club commitments considering the more central location, and that's raised everybody's spirits.
We're into the NAB Challenge now, and it's great to be a part of bringing the game to regional areas who don't get the chance to experience high level football very often.
I'm feeling really good - free of injuries - and I'm champing at the bit to take on the Swans on March 15 at Spotless Stadium.
