Crows performance manager Stephen Schwerdt says that the Crows squad is looking forward to mixing with the best in Australia’s most elite sporting environment.

The Crows depart for Canberra on Sunday evening, to spend five days at the Australian Institute of Sport.

According to Schwerdt, the week away will not disrupt the training routine of the playing group.

“The theme is to continue with the normal training week, and we’ll have a similar format to what we do at home,” Schwerdt said. “We will do it in an elite environment – we’ll have access to their gym, their recovery centre and their ovals. We’ll be mixing with elite athletes and elite coaches. So that’s the main emphasis, we’ll be doing a normal week in an elite environment and see what we can pick up.”

Schwerdt believes that the trip will be an useful learning experience for the players.

“A lot of our players have never been exposed to how other elite athletes train,” Schwerdt said. “We talk about it a lot, and Craigy talks about it because he has been involved in elite cycling, as has Charlie Walsh. So now they can see how these athletes train and live. I think it’s invaluable for us, and more for educational purposes than anything.”

According to Schwerdt, the squad is in “excellent” condition.

“The guys are pretty good,” he said. “I suppose that a good philosophy is that instead of missing ten minutes of training when they’re a little bit sore, it’s better to do that than continue, pull up sore, and then perhaps have to miss a week or two of training. That’s the approach that a lot of our guys take and we have a lot of faith in the feedback of how they are feeling. It’s never a matter of them trying to dodge a bit of work; their attitude to training is sensational. You could never question their work ethic. It’s just good management.”

A number of senior Crows players, including Simon Goodwin and Brett Burton, have been on restricted programs throughout the pre-season.

“Those guys have had minor complaints over the off-season that had to get addressed,” Schwerdt said. “We’ve been managing their programs to get them back, so we expect that most of those guys will start training next week in the main group.”

The 65 hectare AIS site located in the Canberra suburb of Bruce has two arenas, an indoor swimming centre, a gymnastics hall, soccer and hockey fields, multi-purpose indoor training facilities and a sport science building incorporating the AIS biomechanics dome.

And while in the national capital the Crows players will have guided tours of the National War Museum, old and new Parliament House and the National Museum of Australia.