Training camps.

[Booney]

For mine,this is one of the biggest loads of BS to make its way into the AFL pre-season over the last decade or so.
Team building,WTF?,these blokes live in each others pockets for 30+ weeks a year,they see each other during the precious few weeks they get off each year,and apart from the new draftees,all know each other.
Just a massive waste of money,Collingwood went to The States to train with elite athletes at high altitude FFS,its another 12 weeks until the season starts.Why cant they just train in different locations locally?
All that is to be had out of these jaunts is another sexual assault allegation.

[TroyGFC]

I think the teambonding is good for a team, re Brisbane Lions story below:

Kokoda makes lasting impact
8:03:37 PM Sun 4 December, 2005
lions.com.au
Michael Voss is one of the great warriors in the modern era of the AFL. So it should be no surprise that the inspirational skipper was left searching for superlatives to describe the Diggers who forged the legend of the Kokoda Track.

Looking remarkably fresh this morning for a man who had just spent five days re-tracing the steps of the Diggers more than 60 years ago, Voss landed at Brisbane Airport with a lifelong appreciation of their valour.

One suspects he might also appreciate some of the simpler things in life more after being taken with the villagers he might along the Track.

“I’m glad it’s over but at the same time I’m so glad I experienced it,” Voss said after a happy reunion with wife Donna and their three young children.

“I’ve shared some special moments with the premiership players, but now I have shared some special moments with the younger guys in the team.”

While his uncle Charlie Lynn is a war veteran who has taken many tour parties along Kokoda himself, nothing prepared Voss for the mighty Owen Stanley mountain range at the back of Port Moresby.

“You just can’t believe the terrain, it was something you had to see to be believed,” Voss said of the 96km, mostly single-file track.

“I said before we left that the Diggers were immortals and they are just freaks. You can’t begin to explain what they did in ’42. They went beyond the call of duty.

“They lay in pits for weeks at a time, when we were only on our feet for a few hours and felt like our feet were rotting away.”

The Diggers formed a strong bond with the villagers of Papua New Guinea – fondly referred to as the ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ - during World War II and particularly along the Kokoda Track.

Their descendants left a marked impression on Voss over the past week.

While living off the bare necessities and enjoying none of the modern amenities that are taken for granted in the western world, the locals were full of joy for life.

The last night of the Track saw the intrepid Lions dine at one of the villages.

“Ash McGrath was dancing with the kids and pulling all the moves, it was just fantastic,” Voss said. “You could never meet nicer people...they were just sensational.

"They were really happy people, and you just sat back and thought ‘wow’. I’ll take that with me.”

His teammates aside, Voss also found a great source of inspiration in his coach Leigh Matthews.

At 53, Matthews was determined to complete the trek with his team and assistant coaches.

“I think we all got a snippet as to why Leigh Matthews is held in the kind of esteem he is in our game,” Voss said. “The last mountain is a killer. His determination and will to get up that last mountain was nothing short of inspirational. He was absultely exhausted at the top. For him to get through that and share it with the players was inspiring.

“A lot of guys found the going tough at some stages, and an amount of guys cramped up and you never thought they were going to get through the day. The teamwork shone through with things like sharing food even though you only had your own rations.”

Voss, the ultimate professional with his meticulous preparation, lost just 1.5kg on the trek. In contrast, big-hearted ruckman Beau McDonald lost 7-8kg.

“He’ll get it back, and there will be a long term gain,” Voss said.

Both McDonald and Voss have struggled with knee problems in recent years, but Voss was pleasantly surprised with how well his knee handled the rugged week.

And his mind was more on his stomach than his knee this morning.

“We were sitting around the campfire eating tinned food…talking about what we’re going to eat when we get back. Hopefully I’ll get a bit of roast lamb.”