Less than 12 months ago, Adam Saad was in the early stages of another pre-season with his VFL side Coburg in Melbourne’s inner north. He was toiling away, hoping his life would change during the draft period. It did, and significantly.
 
Now, on the back of a sparkling debut season and following successful surgery to alleviate the injury concerns that curtailed the back-end of his year, a refreshed Saad is ready to get stuck into his first proper pre-season at Metricon Stadium.
 
The arrival of a new sports science department, led by renowned high performance boss Justin Cordy, has already turned heads inside the four walls of the football club.
 
And Saad is just one of many admirers set to benefit from the highly individualised programs prescribed by the new team, particularly following the persistent groin issues that dogged him throughout his maiden year.
 
“It’s always good to be back and into pre-season. We had a couple of months off and it’s really good to come back and see the new fitness guys put in a good program for us and we’re just looking forward to the next six weeks,” Saad told SUNS TV on Monday.
 
“I had a bit of OP (Osteitis pubis) and had some surgery done in the off-season on my hip – I had a little tear and some extra bone growing so I cleaned that out. I’m on a program that really tries to strengthen it up with a bit of rehab.
 
“Justin Cordy’s come in and really individualised each program and with me personally, I’m going to start riding the bike a bit more up the mountain and just keep off my legs. He’s really come in and made a good change.
 
“Justin’s put a big emphasis on injury prevention, looking after your body really well, so I just want to strengthen all that kind of stuff, get my body right and get as fit as I can.”
 
Despite playing 16 games in 2015 and establishing himself as a permanent fixture in Rodney Eade’s side, Saad is far from satisfied with where he is at with his game. Nor is he comfortable on where he fits into the SUNS best 22.
 
The 21-year-old says his mindset hasn’t altered from previous years, with his focus now on improving his conditioning through a dedication to his craft over the summer months under the Carrara sun.
 
“Now that I’ve got a taste of AFL footy you’ve got to work even harder to really, not (just) to cement (a spot in the best 22), but play games next year because we’re going to have a full strength side next year,” Saad said.
 
“My mindset really stays the same as the last couple of years, train as hard as I can, get as fit as I can, as strong as I can and play round one and as many games as I can next year.”