THERE was a sense of excitement when Jack Viney’s alarm clock went off on Monday morning.

After eight weeks in isolation, the Melbourne midfielder would be packing his training bag and returning to the club – albeit in a different fashion.

Under the COVID-19 restrictions, the Demons have returned to Casey Fields, implementing changes to their football program to meet the AFL’s strict guidelines.

And while it may be a little dissimilar from the outset, Viney is just pleased to be reunited with his teammates.

“Today has been good,” he told Melbourne Media.

“You do miss the routine of football, so it [was] good to wake up to the alarm clock again and get to work.

“We’re training in much smaller groups – we had seven boys today and one coach, so it’s different, but it’s just good to be back out there and training with some other people again.

“You can’t really get the quality of training that you need to play at such high level in isolation, so it’s good to have six other training partners out there, helping us get back to playing footy.”

Melbourne’s playing list has been split into six groups, with three groups occupying the facilities in the morning, before switching with the others in the afternoon.

The new protocols also mean there are just two training groups on the field at one time, with each allocated one coach to work with.

“Before this all went down, we still did the majority of training in our lines,” Viney said.

“I’ve spent the majority of the pre-season with the seven I’m training with today, so it doesn’t feel unfamiliar.

“It’ll probably take a little bit of adjusting to.”

While the industry’s shutdown period meant time away from the club, the work certainly didn’t stop.

Each player was set a detailed program to follow at home, to maintain their base level of fitness in preparation for their next training block – whenever that may be.

“We had a pretty solid program over the isolation period, which all the boys completed,” Viney said.

“We had a bit of fitness testing today, just to make sure we’re all on track, and then got into some skills afterwards.

“Everyone’s in good nick and [now] we’ll get back into some footy drills.”

With the first session now in the books, the work only continues from here.

And the group are ready to make the most of their time together.   

“It’s great facilities out here at Casey – the boys love coming out here,” Viney said.

“It’s a great oval and not having had anyone train on here for a couple of months has meant the deck has come up a treat.

“I’m looking forward to training out here for the next few weeks.”