Bursting out of the starting gate early, Kade Kolodjashnij impressed in his first 2km time trial this morning.

The No. 5 selection in the 2013 AFL Draft, excelled during he draftees’ first training session on the Gold Coast alongside fellow newcomers Jack Leslie and Sean Lemmens.

After completing some light conditioning around Metricon Stadium’s training field, the boys quickly took their starting positions along the eastern sideline, ready to attack their first time-trial.

In warm and testing conditions, the players set off around the specially-designed track, with Kolodjashnij leading the pack for the entirety of the time trial.

GC SUNS NEAFL coach Shaun Hart showed once again he was no stranger to endurance running, the development coach helping to set the pace alongside Lemmens, both of whom finished a close second behind the Tasmanian teenager.

An elite runner of the 100m sprint, the athletically-built Leslie was tested over the 2km distance, but showed encouraging signs at the latter stages of the race.

Speaking exclusively with goldcoastfc.com.au after the time trial, Hart said Tuesday’s time-trial gave the high performance staff a positive indication of the draftee’s conditioning and ability to endure through pain.

“It certainly gave us a strong indication of their ability to endure, because playing AFL is all about sustaining a four quarter effort, and being able to do repeat running for long distances,” Hart said.

Looking ahead, Hart said the boys would join the main training group for the first time on Monday, with the travelling party set to return from its 2XU High Performance Camp over the weekend.

“They’ve got a bit of gym work to do and a lot of fitness screenings to do for the remainder of the week, before joining the rest of their teammates on Monday for pre-season training.”