DAY ONE of pre-season training is often a day AFL players are not looking forward to, but that was not the case for Connor Rozee on Monday.

After a break-out season where he earned his first All-Australian blazer following a shift from the forward line into the midfield, Rozee spent part of the off-season in the United States working on ways to get even better at the invitation of Travis Boak

And with the disappointment of missing the finals in 2022, Rozee was not alone in being keen to get back to Alberton when the first to fourth year players returned. As many as 12 senior players joined the group of 18 younger players; among them captain Tom Jonas and new forward Junior Rioli.

“Usually, the off-season goes pretty quickly so it’s nice to get back and see everyone,” Rozee said during a press conference between running and gym sessions.

“Everyone’s had a nice little break, been overseas so it’s good to hear about everyone’s fun stories.

“Our senior guys have a great mindset and can’t wait to get into next year and that was shown with them coming out today.

“They don’t have to be here. They could be still on holidays or even training somewhere else, so to see those guys out and supporting the younger group is a really positive sign – from some of our leaders, even our captain coming back. He doesn’t have to be here and he is so it’s just great to have those people around the club and it spurs everyone on.”

Motivation is not something Rozee is lacking as he targets a permanent shift into the midfield.

The 22-year-old’s trip to the US with Boak and fellow teammates Zak Butters, Mitch Georgiades and Ryan Burton saw the group spend time with human movement expert Austin Einhorn and his team at Apiros working on ways to prevent injury and increase efficiency in their game.

“It was an interesting trip,” Rozee reflected. “Something I probably haven’t indulged in before – that sort of training. Travis has been doing that sort of thing for a number of years now so he took Zak, Mitch and I over, and Ryan Burton.

“It was training a little bit different to what I do back here at Port Adelaide. I learnt a lot and hopefully there are some things I can transition into our normal programs.

“It’s not heavy weight lifting; it’s more certain movements that your body wouldn’t be accustomed to I guess, and prevention of injuries is a big one for him so... there’s definitely things we can take from that, that we can put into our programs and prevent injuries or help with things we’re managing.”

Not happy to just rest on his laurels, as well as what he learnt in the US, Rozee is trying to put on size and build his fitness.

“It’s not taking things for granted. I’m still only in my fifth year and still think I’ve got a long way to improve,” he explained.

“We’ve got such a good young group that are driving each other to get better. You could see that today. Everyone has come back fit and ready to go so I’m just excited to get into next year and take my game to another level.

“That’s the plan every year so there’s a lot of things I need to improve – my fitness, I still need to get bigger and I can be a different sort of player and hopefully spend more time in the midfield.”

Rozee will be hoping to be working in coming years in the midfield alongside new recruit Jason Horne-Francis, who was among the new faces at Alberton on Monday.

Still restricted to off-legs training following surgery to relieve pressure on the back of his knees, the 19-year-old took part in some boxing and other work as he builds towards running again around Christmas time.

But the former Kangaroo is someone Rozee cannot wait to work with, having formed a friendship with him in recent years.

“We’ve got the same manager and we’ve spent a bit of time together even before he came to Port Adelaide,” Rozee explained of Horne-Francis.

“We’ve built a bit of a friendship so it’s nice to have him back home and he’s going to be a massive asset for us for the next hopefully ten or 12 years.

“He’s had his surgery and he isn’t training at the moment but he’s going to be massive for us, especially our young core group.”

Another fresh but familiar face at Alberton on Monday was the club’s new midfield coach Josh Carr, who was Rozee’s SANFL premiership coach at North Adelaide in 2018.

The crafty mid is hoping that rekindling the relationship with Carr will bring more success in 2023.

“We’ve got some pretty good memories together and he’s been a really good coach for me personally and I’ve heard some really great things from over at Fremantle as well since he was there,” Rozee said.

“It’s great to have him back. He was an awesome coach for me personally but even today the guys welcomed him in and I can see he’s going to have a massive impact.

“Hopefully we’ll be spending a lot of time together with the midfield group.”

Players who have been in the AFL system for five or more years are due to report for pre-season training from Monday 5 December.