The players may have only returned home from a grueling three weeks in Utah on Saturday, but after a couple of days to settle back in at home they were straight back into training on Monday.  

Shaun Atley focused on putting the exhaustion out of his mind as he got through the first challenging session at Aegis Park in wet and miserable conditions.

All the best photos from the first session back from Utah

"I pretty much spent that time (since returning to Melbourne) catching up on sleep and before you know it we're back into it," Atley told NMFC.com.au.

"Today was pretty solid, we had five one kilometre runs to finish off two hours of skills training which was pretty tough.

"The jet lag is still with a few of the boys, I know myself I felt like I weighed about 100 kilos out there. In saying that, the boys still trained pretty well today and I think we'll get over that jet lag pretty quick."

Looking forward to the second part of North's pre-season, the number 18 knows there's a lot of hard work still ahead of the group and the support of team-mates is vital.

"Everyone's feeling the same so it's not like you're the only one," Atley added.

"The boys will just get around each other to keep us going and stay encouraged. We've only got about six main sessions before Christmas which will go pretty quick and then we've got a bit of a break.

"It's been a long three weeks over in Utah, it's good to be back and now we need to stay focused on the final part of this year."

With three Utah trips under his belt, the 21-year old admits he's more confident in his body and training than ever.

"It gets better every year but it's still really tough. The sessions in Utah were a bit shorter this time but more intense, we keep getting more out of it every year.

"This is my fourth pre-season now. It's gone pretty quick. You feel a bit more settled, the first couple of years you're trying to find your feet but now you can step it up and increase in the areas you want to improve."

One of the most determined young players on the Kangaroos' list, Atley is clear on what he wants to gain from his preparation in the next few months to set him up for a successful 2014 campaign.

"I'm trying to get the most out of every session, even though they're hard, they're designed to help you improve. So if you go in with that mindset, instead of hating every session then you're going to see the benefits."