The Canberra Raiders have left the treadmills and their indoor ballwork at the AIS behind them.
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Now the battle for round-one positions begins in earnest on the Sunshine Coast.
The Green Machine flew to fresher air on Thursday where they'll get their first real crack at forming the combinations they need to go one better than last year's NRL grand final.
As the clock ticks down to their season opener against the Gold Coast Titans - at Canberra Stadium on March 13 - the Raiders have a 10-day camp away from the ACT's toxic air to ramp up their preparations.
Their full squad is back training for the first time this pre-season.
A majority of their 30-man squad went to the Sunshine Coast, with the exception of some members of the rehabilitation group.
That included Luke Bateman (knee) and Joey Leilua, who was given extra time off for his wedding in Samoa and has stayed back to get extra load in his legs.
The arrival of England halfback George Williams means every minute is crucial to forming new combinations before the season starts.
They were meant to resume their pre-season in earnest on Monday, but the Canberra smoke - caused by the bushfires burning on the NSW south coast - forced them to head interstate.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said they'd done what they could inside, but he was thankful the club's hierarchy had given the camp the green light.
"We did a little bit inside [on Wednesday]. We did a lot of our running on treadmills," he said.
"We did everything we could to get some football training, so to speak.
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"We worked inside at the AIS [on Wednesday] and did some football drills, but we need to be outside training on the field.
"It will be a good opportunity for a pre-season camp we weren't planning on.
"We'll turn a little bit of a negative into a positive of being able to get away now."
It means the battle for starting positions - and even bench spots - starts when they get to Queensland.
The Raiders' have a raft of young forwards pressing their claims for more game time in 2020 - Corey Horsburgh, Emre Guler, Ryan Sutton and Hudson Young.
There's also competition in the centres - following Curtis Scott's arrival from the Melbourne Storm - and the opportunity to replace departed winger Jordan Rapana.
"The squad, in a number of positions, has competition for spots," Stuart said.
"For the last three or four years I've mentioned how important it is.
"It makes you work hard. It creates hunger and it gives you the opportunity to train the way you want to play.
"When you've got that little bit of competition around a number of spots that we have - that's in most positions now - it's what I've always tried to build and it creates a very good energy amongst the squad.
"The boys take it as a challenge, they don't see it as a negative, they take it as it's their job to be in the 1-17 and they know it's going to be a fight to get that spot.
"For a coach it's a really positive position to be in."