The mercury was already well on the way to the expected top of 36 degrees when Dale Morris pulled into the VU Whitten Oval car park on Wednesday morning for the side’s first training session since returning from Mooloolaba last week.

The Dogs had been granted some time off before returning to the Club for the week’s main session on Wednesday, and Morris, for one, couldn’t wait.

“Maybe there’s something wrong with me,” he told SEN Breakfast this morning.

“I love coming to the Club, I love challenging myself, I love the opportunities that it presents and I love seeing the young guys stepping up and playing well, training well and putting their hand up for selection.”

“I’m in a very privileged position to play AFL footy and that doesn’t get lost on me. “

The Dogs had called the Sunshine Coast home for the best part of the last fortnight, where gruelling training sessions were paired with team bonding.

“It was probably the hottest and hardest it’s been since I’ve been going up to Mooloolaba,” he said.  “Just the heat and humidity, we really copped it with our main sessions, which made them really, really tough.”

“But you do it as a group, and you’re up there on your own as a team. 

“It’s great to bond and get together.  We have a little bit of downtime, which is great, you get to know the guys a bit more.”

Two players missing from the trip this year were recent retirees Robert Murphy and Matthew Boyd, but that news apparently hasn’t filtered through to everyone, with the 14-year-veteran still getting mistaken for his long-time teammate.

“With Boydy retiring, I thought I’d stop getting called Boydy but I’m still getting the Boydy name during the pre-season so somehow they’re still going to think that Boydy is still going on.