The travelling party has expanded from last year’s successful training venture, which involved just five players - Tom Rockliff, Simon Black, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Merrett and Jed Adcock.
In 2012, all Lions players with four or more years in the AFL system were invited to attend - including Dayne Zorko who completed four pre-seasons with Broadbeach before joining the Club at the end of last year.
Senior Coach Michael Voss said the rationale behind sending more experienced players was to build on the fitness base they had already developed from previous pre-seasons.
“We felt that the biggest benefits we got were from those guys with a couple of pre-season already under their belt because a (training) base has already been laid,” Voss said.
“We still think we can get a massive amount of gains from the guys in the 1-3 year bracket here (in Brisbane), because they haven’t done a lot of pre-seasons.”
Reigning Club Champion Joel Patfull said the group was looking forward to what promises to be a gruelling program.
“I don’t know what to expect. The boys (who went last year) have said it’s a pretty tough couple of weeks, but I’m looking forward to it.” Patfull said.
“It’s a good change-up to get away and do something different. I’ve just been running around here for the last seven years, so I’m looking forward to a change of scenery and a bit of hard work over there.”
There will be a few notable absentees from this year’s travelling party, with Captain Jonathan Brown, Vice-Captain Jed Adcock, and new recruit Stefan Martin all staying in Brisbane to join their younger teammates for regular training.
Brown is staying home following the birth of his first son, Jack William Brown, and Martin was unable to attend due to a conflict with his end-of-year Law exams. Adcock, meanwhile, is still recovering from post-season hip surgery.
But the inclusion of Brent Staker and Matthew Leuenberger - who missed the majority of last season - to the travelling party means both have overcome their injuries and are set for a full pre-season.
“The one thing with the guys going over to Arizona is that you’ve got to be fit and healthy to get benefits out of the program,” Voss said.
“(Leuenberger and Staker) are expected to complete a full pre-season.”
The full Arizona travelling squad has been listed below:
ARIZONA TRAINING SQUAD
Todd Banfield
Simon Black
Aaron Cornelius
Pearce Hanley
Matthew Leuenberger
Jordan Lisle
Matt Maguire
Ash McGrath
Daniel Merrett
Brent Moloney
Joel Patfull
James Polkinghorne
Andrew Raines
Jack Redden
Daniel Rich
Tom Rockliff
Brent Staker
Dayne Zorko
Stay tuned to lions.com.au for all the latest updates and videos from the team’s high-altitude training camp in Arizona.
