THE FOUNDATION is set. 

For Jacob Weitering, it's safe to say this pre-season is tracking a little bit better compared to the last one from a personal perspective.

With a key focus on defence defining the Blues' modus operandi over the summer, here's what the co-vice captain had to say to launch pre-season camp.

On the purpose of pre-season camp:

“Camp’s always a good time of year. We’ve been back at the Club for two-and-a-bit weeks, three for the younger guys. It’s a good opportunity to build a bit of connection, there’s a culture and values piece for sure.

“Being a short camp, we’ll pack a lot in with a pretty decent training load. We’ve got two sessions out at the Maroochydore Sporting Complex: we’ve trained there a few times in the past.

“Some fresh faces, some new recruits, some new staff members - Rob has really taken hold of this group and I think we’re responding well to the loads at the moment. It’ll be a good way to finish out the December training period.”

On how he’s tracking so far in pre-season:

“For me personally, I’ve done just about every session, which is a bit different to last year and the calf injuries that were popping up. It’s been a really positive start I think.

“‘Vossy’ has been on one, which has been good! We didn’t finish the year like we wanted to, but we’ve set the foundation in December and hopefully we can keep going.”

On the team’s defend-first focus:

“It’s probably something that let us down a little bit towards the back end of the year, that’s just a fact. It’s certainly something we’re going to go to work on which I’m really excited about, I know ‘Newy’ is as well.

“‘Sammy’ [Aaron Hamill] has been terrific at educating us pre-training and post-training, looking at clips and putting a new spin on things.

“We’ll try a few different things throughout the pre-season, and hopefully we can go back to the back end of 2023 with the way we were playing defence as a team. It was really exciting and we were able to score off the back of it. We’ll try and recreate that a little bit, we’ll get to work.”

On the Club’s young intake this year:

“It’s always funny when the younger boys come in. I think back to when I got drafted and the group I came through with. We’re all different personalities, coped with stress in different ways. This group has been fantastic.

“They’re a quite bunch for sure, quite raw, but they’ve got great football ability and are building relationships straight away. They’ll slide straight in, and the last two weeks have been great.

“We’re training out in Bundoora while the ground is being resurfaced at IKON. The energy has been great and the training has been great. For the majority, a lot of guys are out there training really well at the moment. It’s exciting.”

On Nick Haynes’ influence:

“‘Haynesy’ is a pretty laidback cat, but I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him. He’s pretty quiet, but he’s been around for a long period of time and a successful player from an individual point of view while also playing in some really good defences and teams.

“For a lot of the older and younger guys, to learn a little bit off him will be great. In training, he’s certainly impressed - I’m certainly excited to play alongside him.”

On the turnout of the supporters on day one:

“They’re certainly behind us and a passionate bunch. I go back to the way we finished the year, we are proud of the way we went about the year and we never gave in, but it was very frustrating to get knocked out so early against the eventual premiers.

“For us, we really want to get to work in the off-season. The group came back in really good condition, we saw that in the two-kilometre time trial results - I’m never going to be up the top! But the midfielders and young guys really stepped up, and on the track some guys are really impressing with the way they’ve come back from a conditioning point of view and in drills.

“To all the ‘Baggers out there, keep supporting us, sign up if you haven’t already and look forward to Round 1 against the Tigers.”