On day one of the pre-season, Michael Voss and the first to fourth year players returned to IKON Park to begin training. 

There were many new faces, as well as some outside the younger age bracket gracing the field today, which Voss found pleasing. 

Here's what he had to say. 

On the day so far: 

"It was good, we did some testing early. It was pleasing to see the amount of numbers we’ve got here: obviously [some of] the boys don’t have to come back until Monday 6 December so the fact that they’re here back training and that they want to be here and start off something really new is really pleasing to see."

On the game plan: 

"I think the most important thing for us at the moment is that we have a balanced view from our game style: it won’t be all defence at the expense of what we want to get out of our offence and likewise the other way around.

"We’ll certainly promote a balanced game style, that’s for sure but it’s underpinned by the fact that we need to get our hands on the ball first then we play from there."

"What I’m paying more attention to is how we would like to play moving forward so there’s not another way except having a collective mindset and how we support each other in all phases of the game. We’ll be asking every player to prioritise that." 

On the backline make up: 

"Lewis [Young] coming in is one of the names straight away. We’re certainly happy to explore Mitch McGovern going back so I’ve had those conversations with him already and he’s been super keen to take on a challenge like that.

"Then there’s the guys who we haven’t seen a lot of in recent times, obviously ‘Marchy’ is just starting to get himself going so we’ll see him up and going post-Christmas. There’s a few names there to use but we’ve got to get them skilled up in those areas."

On Sam Docherty: 

"It’s a great news story straight away. The boys love him and they reached out pretty heavily when he wanted to do that and the boys got around him in a big way and so did the Club.

"Anytime you get to see Doc, having caught up with him a few times over the past few weeks, just seeing his energy and where his focus lies. He’s completely not on himself and it’s all about the boys, how they’re training, how they’re presenting, what do I think and how are we going to do things so his positive approach is pretty inspiring." 

"[His return] will be steady, we’ll be largely guided by the doctors and even they’ll be guided by how he feels. I think for him at the moment, a significant milestone is probably that he’s back with us and he’s not having to isolate, he’s getting back around the group, that’s such a big win." 

On the group: 

"I’m impressed with the group as a whole, you get an early feel of where the group is at. In all the discussions I’ve had with them, every single one of them have been really determined to get more out of themselves so to see the group here and how they’ve presented themselves has been really impressive.

"In some ways, having the old group come back has been nice for the coach that they’re doing that, but it’s probably a statement for themselves that they’re all coming back and they’re all starting together and we’re starting the journey today." 

On the new culture: 

"When you get the situation when we’re in at the moment, there’s so many new people, I talked to the players before, I don’t think in 30 years of AFL football have I seen such a change and the only other time was at Brisbane in 1999. From my perspective, the group deserves a fresh set of eyes.

"We’ve got a whole new coaching group and I understand that there’s strengths and weaknesses that they all bring but how they influence is going to be what they do over this pre-season. Hopefully that gives them the fresh start that they’re looking for.

"[The culture] is around that consistency and reliability. I’ve heard a lot about talent, talent gets you through the door and that’s it, the ability to back up every single day and do the right things and be here for the right reasons, that’s extremely important." 

On Greg Williams, Brad Lloyd, Luke Sayers and Brian Cook:

"'Diesel' has been a great support for me already, I’ve loved the time that I’ve had with him and the discussions we’ve had and he’s been an amazing support to me already.  Him and Brad right from the outset have asked what’s the support that I need and they’ve gone about it as hard as they possibly can and Luke [Sayers] and [Brian] Cook as well. 

"They’ve been really supportive trying to put the environment around to get the best out of ourselves."