THE tropical climate and proximity of the Sunshine Coast as well as the AFL-standard facilities available has combined as the perfect setting for St Kilda’s annual pre-season camp.

St Kilda Director of Coaching and Strategy Danny Sexton was glowing in his praise of the Sunshine Coast after a gruelling three-hour training session at the Maroochydore multi-sports centre.

“We wanted to find the heat and humidity. It gets pretty hot in Melbourne at this time of year but you don’t get the humidity,” Sexton said.

“So just for the extra training effects, for the physical exertion and mental exertion we wanted to get the players away to have a different set of conditions.”

RELATED: Photo gallery - Day 1 pre-season camp

The Saints undertook their training camp in picturesque Queenstown, New Zealand last year after two successive training camps at high-altitude in Boulder, Colorado.

Sean Dempster sets the standard at day one of pre-season training.

Sexton said having the team basing itself in Queensland for a week served as a great fit.

“We’re rapt to be here and we’re really looking forward to seeing how it works for us. The last couple of years we’ve gone overseas and they were great experiences but what we found was that you lose too much training time on the way there and on the way home,” he said.

“We landed yesterday and came straight out here to this fantastic facility at the Maroochydore multi sports centre. We had a run around and didn’t lose any training time at all. It’s only two hours away from home and it is a great facility up here.

“You get the heat, the great facilities and the humidity and we thought it was going to work for us. We’re really happy to be here.”