Summer has finally arrived to Melbourne and while I love the decent surfing conditions the good weather is bringing, it’s a double edged sword as the heat has made training a hell of a lot harder and more taxing.

Some days I have been driving to training in the morning and looked up at the big Nylex thermometer near the ground and the mercury is already past 30 degrees. When you see that you drop your head a bit and think about it being a hot one again, but at the end of the pre-season it will probably help us.

I am trying to enjoy the summer as much as I can despite training six days a week and am having a pretty good time.

Aside from training and surfing I have also had the chance to head out for some fishing down Sorrento with my mate ‘Habby’, and our girlfriends.

They have been some good times, most probably because we have been catching fish, especially the first time. We were only in about five metres of water and the fish were biting like crazy. I caught one off my first cast before the line had even gone deep and took home some nice fish, including a decent flathead which was cooked up for dinner.

Backtracking a little bit and I want to thank everyone for the Xmas and New Years wishes. I spent New Years in Bali with Kylee and a couple more of our friends.

It was my first time in Bali and I really enjoyed just kicking back and relaxing.
We were staying in Legian and spent a bit of time relaxing by the pool and sipping on some Bintang, which really does go down smoothly.

We also did a bit of shopping. Anyone who has been to Bali will tell you it’s an experience to shop over there and barter with the locals. In a way it’s kind of funny that you can end up arguing over 5-10 cents as the Aussie dollar will buy you 6000 rupea, but that’s the way it is.

It’s actually quite a tiring experience because you can’t really say you’re just looking as you are constantly being shown goods and getting asked if you want to buy this or that.

Like most people I found it fun at first, but my patience probably wore a bit thin later on.

It was a pretty good break though. Six days in Bali was worth it and it only really takes as long to fly to as Perth.

Since then I have been back at training and putting in the hard yards. I’m actually finding it easier to do pre-season training this year and think it comes with the experience of having done it for a few years now.

I now know what to expect and know it’s going to feel like I’m dying out there everyday as opposed to the younger guys who aren’t really ready for it.

Having said that the really young guys in the squad get looked after just like I did when I was their age and when it gets to the really hard part of the session they are pulled aside and taken care of.

While the pre-season has been hot and fairly long, the games are coming around quickly and we are preparing for our first trial match in around two weeks time at Subiaco. So in the end all the training in the heat will probably help us with the dry Perth conditions.

The curse of the stingray barb continues to strike down AFL players en masse. David Hille of Essendon was stung this week adding to a list including Jarrad Grant from the Bulldogs and West Coast’s Daniel Kerr. Fortunately for David he didn’t have too bad a reaction.

I think it’s a more a common occurrence because we do a bit of work in the shallows at beaches. Personally I am more concerned with sharks at the moment, given the recent spate of attacks.

Looking at the Herald Sun the other week I can’t believe a surf instructor didn’t order his students out of the water when a shark was cruising by close to them.

Having said that I think you have more chance of being killed by an errant coconut than a shark attack and tend to think if it’s your time then it’s your time and unfortunately for you, you were going to go that way.

It’s been a while so I thought I’d answer some of your questions on the blog.

Nathan – When it comes to pressure to perform there is a bit of it, especially here at Collingwood, but we deal with it by doing the hard work and preparing for each game the best we can, and we are able to do that because the club provides some great support staff and facilities.

As for my goals for 2009 I haven’t really sorted them out yet, but will work them out after I have a sit down with Paul Hudson (who has come on as a forward’s coach this year) sometime soon.

Laura – I played cricket as a kid, and made some regional teams as a wicketkeeper and that’s my best sport of the three. As a tennis player I make a very good footy player and as far as golf goes I am consistently inconsistent, although I do have a hole in one to my name, which occurred at ‘Royal’ Drouin. Some say fluke I say good shot.

As for our slogan for 2009 I believe it’s ‘Side by Side’. At least that’s the one from our membership campaign.

That just about brings me up to speed. I’m off to Lochsport this weekend with Kylee to enjoy my last weekend off in a while.

Dale