Damien Austin began his role as the Club’s new High Performance Manager in October armed with the task of preparing the Lions’ squad for their 2016 season campaign.

Austin comes to the Lions from the Sydney Swans, having worked as a part of that club's high performance team for four seasons.

“They’re running probably anywhere from 8-13kms within a session,” Austin told LionsTV.

“We’re trying to give them a bit of duration of running and try to get some volume in the legs to finish off strong before Christmas.”

Austin said he was pleased with the progress of the squad ahead of the Christmas break.

“Some of the new guys that turned up – Tommy Bell’s been really good, Ryan Bastinac, and also Mitch Robinson.

“They’ve pushed everyone else along as well.”

Rather than putting their feet up over the festive break, the players will be expected to continue their individual training programs.

“The first session they’ve got a 3km time trial,” Austin said.

“They’re going to go straight into where we left off with skills and running. There is no stopping over Christmas. We don’t have the time to waste.”