With the red and blues having the bye last weekend the team was able to take a four-day break leading into the tail end of the season.
It was an opportunity for the players to get over any niggling injuries, let the bumps and bruises fade away and enjoy some time away from the field.
“After four days off the guys are freshened right up and looking forward to training,” head coach Nathan Brown said in a press conference on Monday morning.
“We’ve got a lot of younger players and the year’s been pretty tough on them, so the time off has been good for them.”
For most of the team it has been uninterrupted football since the International Round at the start of May, and while that may not sound so long ago, the rigours of first grade rugby league take their toll on the body like no other sport.
With the sun out after a weekend of heavy rain the players were clearly jubilant as they returned to the training paddock.
“You could see in their demeanour today that they’re very keen to train, and they enjoyed being back,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, new recruits Mitch Barnett and Brendan Elliot are settling into the team well and are looking more at home in training drills this week.
“They only had two sessions ahead of their first game, so I’m sure they’re more comfortable now,” Brown explained.
“In Brendan’s case while he’s fairly young, the experience he has is a fair bit more than some of the players around him.
“In Barny’s (Barnett’s) case, he’s a guy that has spent most of his time in reserve grade so I think he’s probably a little like the kid in the candy store because he’s getting to play a number of games in a row.
“We’re quite hopeful that both players will continue to improve as they play more.”
