There was no easing back into things for Canberra’s young playing group today, with players finishing the second week of the post-Christmas training period with a punishing 2km time trial.
Off-season recruit Kel Evans stormed home to cross the line first, with rebounding defender Riley Budd and Jarrod Osborne filling the minor places.
A fast-finishing Mitch Maguire came home in fourth, narrowly ahead of a pack including Angus Baker, Lucas Meline, Matt Vardenega, Jack Adamson and Jack Nunn.
While impressed by the guys at the top of the field, it was the performances further down the list that had High Performance Manager Billy Mason smiling.
“As a collective, that was as good as I’ve seen,” Mason said.
“The condition the group has returned in gives us a great platform to attack training over the next two months.”
Connor Owen-Auburn, Donald Roberts, Billy Clarke and Guy Richardson were other standouts from this afternoon’s run while Vice-Captain Andrew Swan completed his first major test since suffering a serious knee injury last season.
Canberra players enjoyed a three-week break over Christmas, with this afternoon’s session marking their first time trial for 2019.