A punishing hour of hill sprints up one of Queenstown’s most iconic trails capped off day three of St Kilda’s High Performance camp in New Zealand.

Jarryn Geary and David Armitage led the younger brigade up the harsh terrain, encouraging them to forget the “little man on their shoulder” when times were tough.

Following on from a harsh leadership camp at the AIS last month, the young group is committed to driving a St Kilda future and showed their unrelenting desire to climb back to the top.

“There are about three different hills, a couple of hundred metres long.  It was pretty tough,” Markworth said.

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“I’m pretty proud of the boys so far, I think we did about 20 reps, we didn’t know how many we were going to do. 

"We did about eight (reps), thought we were done, and then got hit with about 12 more.

“You get to the point where everything is just as hard as the next…it’s tough, but good.”

A 6am boxing session in the tranquil surrounds of the Queenstown Gardens set the group up for a big day of exercise that included a lengthy five hour skills session, followed by weights and recovery.

The senior players and new recruits arrived in the quaint town in the early afternoon and it didn’t take long for Jack Billings to catch up with new rookie and old friend Jack Sinclair in the lobby.

The pair was soon split as the new camp arrivals were sent straight to the gym for a bike workout before a team dinner where the draftees were officially welcomed to the group.

Another early wakeup call will see the Saints mountain bike over 33kms at the crack of dawn through a stunning passage of Queenstown’s rugged landscape on Sunday.