Adelaide’s players have embraced a busy off-season break after a year heavily impacted by Covid-19.

First-to-four year Crows returned for pre-season training on Monday, alongside several senior players including Taylor Walker, Luke Brown and Brodie Smith.

Adelaide Football Boss Adam Kelly said the players had “maximised the opportunity to be together and train” during the break.

“That was the benefit of the border restrictions, most of our players stayed here in the early part of the offseason,” Kelly said.

“They trained in groups and were really driving each other.

“While we do get them later (compared to previous years), we have confidence they will come back in good order given the work they’ve been doing.”

Adelaide also welcomed several new faces at pre-season training on Monday, including former skipper Nathan van Berlo and new senior assistant coach Scott Burns.

“For staff it’s been a really busy period because we’ve gone through some significant change,” Kelly said.

“Being clear about our directions and our plans has been the priority and we felt more than ready for the players return (on Monday).”

The players will train for two weeks before Christmas break and return, alongside the senior players, on January 6.