Players were put through their paces today with pre-season training kicking up a gear as day two of the High Performance Camp in Queenstown got underway.

Despite training in front of a serene mountain backdrop, new recruit Tim Membrey said the view posed no distraction from gruelling sessions.

“Yesterday we flew in and there was no mucking around and we were straight into a pretty intense session,” he said. 

“This morning we got up nice and early, went down to the Queenstown Event Centre and did a bit of upper body weights and followed up with a pretty tough session in the pool so we’ve come down here to the lake for a nice little recovery session.”

Lake Wakatipu’s freezing temperatures helped speed along recovery after a strenuous weights, boxing and bike rotation that continued through the day.

The schedule is jam-packed for players over the coming eight days with the team based in at the heart of the adventure town.

 “Went up for a bit of a stroll last night and went up to the Gondola here, up to the top.  (There’s) pretty amazing sights and it’s a good spot to check out.”

“The training has been pretty full on so far but it’s been good.”

The former Sydney Swans forward will welcome the rest of the recruits, along with the senior players, when they join the group tomorrow.

“The new draftees get over on Saturday so it will be good to meet them and work hard with those guys.”