Hawthorn defender Josh Battle has praised the quality of the group’s pre-season training sessions so far. 

Speaking to the media following a match simulation training session at Deakin Uni Waurn Ponds, the 27-year-old provided an insight into how his teammates are driving each other to improve on last year’s preliminary final exit. 

Battle also spoke about being selected to represent Victoria in the upcoming AAMI AFL Origin on Saturday 14 February. 

We summarised the key points from Battle’s press conference below 

On the team’s training standards 

“We’re really working on our contest stuff, so it’s always going to be a physical training session. That’s how we get the best out of each other. We love crashing in. We drive high standards of each other, so we want to get the best out of each other through each session. I think it’s expected of all of us.”

On his State of Origin selection

“It’s very special. I think it’s something I’ll look back on at the end of my career and be really pumped to be a part of it. I’m really looking forward to it. To be playing against TB (Tom Barrass), that will be pretty cool, and then play alongside Dimma (Blake Hardwick), we’re really pumped. I think the game’s going to be brilliant. Everyone’s talking it up, the selectors are really pushing it to be a really solid game, so I think everyone’s going to be going flat out.”

On going into his second Hawks pre-season

“It’s going to be huge. As the year went on last year, the synergy got better within the group. To spend a full pre-season with everyone again I think will definitely help us going forward.”

For more insights on Hawthorn’s pre-season flyers, watch Battle’s full press conference below.