Individual training standards could play a huge role in early round results, says rising Launceston defender Miller Hodge.
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Initially scheduled for the last week of March, the TSL season was postponed for more than three months when the coronavirus pandemic hit, with players only permitted to train in pairs for nearly six weeks.
Clubs will have had three weeks of contact training when round one rolls around this weekend, and Hodge believes those who knuckled down on fitness during the height of lockdown will reap the benefits.
"Round one and the first few rounds are going to show which sides did the work while the time was off," Hodge said.
"You could be caught undone well and truly if you didn't do the work and that was definitely up to the individual when you weren't allowed to train in groups.
"I think it's a credit to our group that we've come back fit and ready to go.
"Off-season we weren't allowed to train in groups, but players individually were staying fit at home and it shows that we've come back and the first night back everyone was fit and we took off from where we left off from."
Set to turn 20 next month, Hodge has been a staple member of the Blues' senior team since 2018.
The former Scotch Oakburn student reinvented himself as a defender with great success last season and is keen to take the next step in 2020.
"I've had a few years now playing seniors so I just want to keep building and make every year better than the last," he said.
"The goal as a group is to win the premiership - that's one that you set yourself and do as much as you can to help the side do that - but the main thing is to keep building from last year, build my confidence, keep believing in myself and keep pushing."
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Hodge said the 2020 TSL premiership would be an incredible achievement if his up-and-coming side could pull it off.
"I think we're going to be an exciting side to watch this year, we're definitely looking forward to the challenge," he said.
"Being a shorter season, it's a different season to probably any other we'll play.
"But I think the result at the end of the year will be just the same - whoever's able to win the premiership, I think it's going to be a year to look back on, especially with the circumstances we've all faced."
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