2020 may have had fewer rounds but it was a long season.

Pre-season training started in November 2019. Port Adelaide finished its season with a heartbreaking Preliminary Final loss to eventual premier Richmond in late October.

Around 20 players – mostly those in their first to fourth years on the club’s list - have just finished a two-week pre-Christmas training block at Alberton, and even those who played in that final game came back fresh and in good shape.

“They went away hurting after how things finished up,” said Port Adelaide’s Head of High Performance, Ian McKeown, who oversaw the two-week program.

“They know what it takes and they’re all hungry now.

“How they’ve shown up is a real credit to them and we’re in a great position to really attack January.”

The length of the season has meant a re-think to how Port Adelaide’s pre-season will look.

For starters the players with more than five years on the list will not return until the first week of January.

The club won’t have its customary pre-season camp, which has been just as important for building the fitness levels of the group as with building its on and off-field connection.

But while things have changed, they remain very much the same for McKeown.

“The off-season period across the competition has probably been roughly the same,” he explained.

“Our off-season has been somewhat shorter with going further into finals”

“However, we haven’t had the same headaches in terms of logistics and planning for players coming back from overseas travel but the plan is steadfast.

“We have tried to give the players as much time off as possible but the demands will escalate pretty quickly with the season starting when it is.”

For a while, the club’s high-performance staff were scrambling to find a way for players who had returned to their home states to train together.

At times, the club’s high-performance staff were having to revisit the processes put in place earlier in the year with nationwide shutdowns, having players train together and ensure they had all the equipment they needed during any lockdown situation.

A COVID-19 cluster in Adelaide had seen states close their borders to South Australia and McKeown and his team had to put contingencies in place to ensure those who might not be able to be at Alberton could still get the work in that they required.

In the end those plans were not needed, except for West Australian trio Mitch Georgiades, Jake Pasini and new recruit Aliir Aliir, who were given their own training program to undertake together in Perth.

“Luckily the only contingency we had to put in place was the W.A. one, which we’re really comfortable with,” McKeown said.

“Planning training has been an issue, typically we can have everything charted out for weeks in advance but we couldn’t guarantee we would have 18 players back training for the two weeks before breaking up for Christmas until really late.

“The events of the last few weeks in S.A. have show we’ve had to be very flexible and agile – which is pretty much the same for everyone in the world this year.

“We’ve shown with the outbreaks and other small tests, we’ve coped really well with the players being really adaptable and willing to lean into any challenge that’s been in place.”

McKeown’s team must take credit too.

The club had a near fully fit list for much of the season, and had every player bar midfielder Willem Drew available for the Preliminary Final.

“All credit goes to the guys who create an environment where everyone wants to be here, whether that’s the players or the staff,” the humble Irishman said.

“It’s exceptional work from everybody within the team.

“I certainly feel like it’s the players who have taken the responsibility to be accountable and do the right thing with their professionalism and looking after themselves.

“It’s about cumulative work and people doing everything they can to make sure they can get out on the track. That’s the way the program has been for a long time and this year we hope it continues.”