On day one of his 32nd pre-season at the highest level, director of coaching and midfield coach, Darren Crocker, said he was nothing but impressed by the attitude of North's young charges during main skills on Monday.

“There was plenty of energy and enthusiasm, so it was really good,” Crocker told North Media.

The players returned a week later than other clubs - a small reward for the group’s tireless efforts before Christmas according to the seasoned coach.

“You would have seen that most clubs came back last Monday, but we decided that we had such a long lead-in to the Christmas break, that the guys had done a lot of work and could do with that extra week off,” Crocker said.

“They’ve come back really refreshed, and most of the guys I spoke to leading into training today had gotten to a point where they were looking forward to coming back and starting to get into training, which is always a good sign.”

That eagerness to return to Arden St. and improve was evident last week with multiple players touting to get a head start.

“They’ve definitely done a lot of work in their own time,” Crocker observed.

“Given the fact that we gave them an extra week, they were sent away with individual programs, and the expectation was that they were to follow them pretty diligently throughout that break.”

What may have been the most positive feature of today’s session was the heavily reduced numbers in the rehabilitation group.

Newly re-appointed captain Jack Ziebell returned to full training, alongside the teammates he worked through modified programs with prior to the break.

“We had quite a few guys in the rehab group leading into Christmas, so it was really important for them to continue to build over the break and get back into full training as quickly as they possibly could,” Crocker said.

“Those guys probably couldn’t have the physical relaxation that the other guys would have had throughout that time, but they would have definitely had a bit of a mental break.

“Today we had close to 36 players involved in training, and that was without the first-yearers who are away at an AFL induction camp."

Jack Ziebell trained with the main group after spending much of the pre-Christmas period of a modified training program.

One fresh face in the rehab group was Crocker's own son, Joel, who is eligible as a father-son selection in this year’s draft.

“He’s one who’s in the rehab group because he had surgery on an ankle at the end of last season, but that’s coming along nicely,” Crocker said.

“It’s great for him to be able to work with our rehabers and the players in that rehab group because anything at that age is always going to be a bonus.”

Joel Crocker, son of Darren, trained with the team this morning.

With Round 1 only two months away, there's plenty to teach the young list.

“What drives any coach, especially with the group we’ve now got which is quite young, is the goal to get as much into them as we possibly can in regards to game education,” Crocker said.

“We’re teaching them how we want them to move the football, how we want to defend and what the structures are going to be.

“We need to continue to push the envelope, without obviously burning them out, but keep pushing them and getting as much training and education into them as possible.”