“If I didn’t go with Jack (Ziebell) earlier this year, I’d be flying blind a bit,” McKenzie explained to kangaroos.com.au.
“Knowing the place, the environment, the layout, the running tracks and all those sorts of things helps heaps I think.”
The lack of oxygen at altitude also something he’s well aware of.
“Last time I’d walk up some stairs with Jack and would start to suck in the deep breaths. It wasn’t something I was used to at all.”
But there’s one thing he won’t be ready for.
“Well it’s snowing pretty heavily already and the boys have told me how cold it gets on the hikes and in training. We were there in the summer and it was pretty hot every day. That’s going to be a lot different training in the snow.”
Last time around, the players agreed Utah produced the toughest running sessions they’d ever participated in and McKenzie is well prepared for the challenges which will come his way.
“It’ll just be good to train in a different environment. I think it spurs people on. I don’t get really nervous about it, I’m just focused on getting a real solid training block under my belt before Christmas.
“There are some horror stories and I know they’re pretty full-on days, but Ziebes and I were there for two weeks and only had one day off, so we worked pretty hard as well.”
