Neeld was pleased with his squad’s work-ethic, which he said was an improvement from their first training run on Friday.
“We were a little bit quicker and I think we have been here for a few days, so a little bit of acclimatisation has taken place, which is really good,” he said.
“It was really warm today (Sunday) but it’s still a couple of degrees lower that it was on Friday … and we also had the long flight on Thursday.
“We saw it (the training session) with the naked eye, but the sports science staff is telling us it went well.”
Neeld said having the draftees participate in Melbourne’s second training session at Gardens Oval on Sunday provided some extra spark.
“We probably had more players involved today (Sunday) than the last session. All the new draftees were out there and that was really good,” he said.
“They are naturally young and enthusiastic players that are in there trying to prove a point.
“So they all trained, which clearly points to more numbers, but also gave us some youthful enthusiasm out there.”
Although Neeld said there was some initial improvement, he added that it was too early to tell what benefits would be made from training in the heat and humidity.
“Over time, that will tell, but one thing that we are really clear on is that from all of the research that has taken place, when you go to a training camp - and we have chosen to go to humidity and some clubs have gone to altitude - it’s a long term investment,” he said.
“It takes a long time for everything to show off, but in the short term it’s pretty tough work.
“That’s ok, that’s why we brought them here.”
