Defender Daniel Talia will head up a small group of players on modified programs when pre-season training gets under way next week.

Talia had surgery to correct a persistent Achilles complaint a fortnight ago after the injury failed to heal with rest.

The former first-round draft pick made his AFL debut against the Sydney Swans in round 15 and held his spot, playing the last nine games of the season.

The promising 20-year-old will join Graham Johncock (ankle), Chris Knights (hip) and Shaun McKernan (ankle), who all had minor surgery at the end of last season, in being eased into full training.

Adelaide physical performance manager Stephen Schwerdt said Talia was unlikely to start running before December.

“Daniel’s Achilles was giving him trouble all season,’ Schwerdt told afc.com.au.

“He didn’t play much early in the year because of it, but he played in the second half of the season and did well to put up with it.

“Achilles injuries can hang around like that, so it was good he had the surgery.

“It was quite revolutionary surgery. Not many athletes in Australia have had it done because the surgeon in Melbourne, who performed the surgery, learned the technique overseas and has only come back to Australia in the last couple of weeks.

“It means Daniel won’t see much training prior to Christmas, but at least he’ll be pain-free when he does get into it.”

Winner of the club’s emerging talent award in 2011 Matthew Jaensch, who had a shoulder reconstruction in August, will be limited to non-competitive drills until the New Year.

Talented recruit Brad Crouch will remain in Victoria until his Year 12 exams are complete, but has been given a training program to follow prior to his arrival in late-November.

“There’s not a huge degree of urgency with Brad,” Schwerdt said.

“We just want him to do enough training. His main priority is to do his exams well.”

The players were all given programs to adhere to during their post-season breaks.

Schwerdt said the club had taken a different approach to the offseason this year, tailoring the programs to the player’s specific needs.

“We’ve tried to individualise their programs and get them to work on one particular physical aspect of their training whether that be putting on some muscle, getting stronger or developing speed or endurance,” he said.

“As a result, we’ve got guys at quite different levels now in regards to where they’re at.

“As far as expecting them to be burning up the track first session back, it probably won’t happen given we’ve had a lot of guys really target their strength or weight training during the offseason.”

There have been several changes to the club’s fitness staff during the offseason.

Nick Poulos has been appointed as strength and speed coach, and because of his rugby background will also work with the players to develop their tackling skills.

Matthew Bode, who returned to the Crows in a part-time position last season, has been made full-time in his role as fitness coach.

The pre-season, which will be spilt into four blocks, starts with a testing session on Monday.

However, the best chance for members and supporters to watch new coach Brenton Sanderson put the players through their paces will be on Max Basheer Reserve on Thursday.

Sanderson has brought with him fresh ideas and Schwerdt said it would be a balancing act to ensure the players learned the changes to the game plan, while still doing enough physical work.

“It’s a matter of myself and my fitness guys working in close consultation with the coaches to make sure the drills are achieving what the coaches want and also what they need to do physically to prepare for the season,” he said.