A LEANER Michael Hurley has set his sights on the most complete pre-season of his AFL career after dropping five kilograms and noticing the benefits.
Hurley, who is one of 10 Essendon players training at high-altitude in Colorado, lost the weight in the off-season while recovering from a wrist reconstruction.
The rehabilitation prevented the 22-year-old from doing any weights on his break, but as the only key position player on Essendon's trip, he has held his own with the midfielders and been running better than at any stage of his AFL career.
"The way I'm covering the ground at the moment has been a pleasant surprise and I think having a bit less body weight has been helpful for me," Hurley told AFL.com.au from Colorado.
"Depending on what role I'd play [I'd like to keep it off]. If I was playing a high forward role, I'd ideally like to be this weight.
"But in saying that, if I was going to go down back and play on the likes of Travis Cloke and guys who are just man mountains, I'd probably have to put on a bit more size."
Essendon coach James Hird has indicated a pre-season full of more long-distance running for his players, and Hurley sees it as an important step in his athletic development.
In the past Hurley has said he was an "all or nothing" type of runner, who was either going full tilt or not running at all. He hopes adding a balance to his running game will help him have a more consistent impact for the club.
"The type of running that we're doing at the moment is very much about an aerobic base," he said.
"It's covering a lot more distance than I have done previously, so if I can integrate that into my footy it will be helpful. I do go pretty flat out most of the time, so to be able to run at lesser intensity for longer would be good."
Hurley got the plaster off his wrist two weeks ago, and wants to be back into competitive drills by the start of December.
He has not been without his injury troubles in previous summers, including ongoing hamstring injuries that began in January this year.
The powerful forward hopes the altitude camp will begin a turn around in luck.
It took the travelling players only a couple of days to adjust to the cold air and lack of oxygen in Boulder, and Hurley expects to feel the difference when he lands back in Australia next week.
"I'm really excited to walk into a pre-season knowing I can do most things from the start. And just being on this trip is an added bonus to get that extra base and fitness level," he said.
"Obviously I'm enjoying my time here, but I can't wait to get back into the main group and get stuck into a pre-season and hopefully it pays off in my footy next year."
Callum Twomey is a reporter at the AFL website. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.
