Pre-season is officially underway for all AFL clubs as road to 2019 begins

The road to 2019 is officially underway as players from every AFL club returned to training on Monday. For Collingwood and Richmond it was day one for 1-4 year players, while for the likes of Essendon, Carlton and Adelaide it's full steam ahead for the full squad. See the best photos.

Tom Lynch

The 2018 season ended seven weeks ago. Season 2019 starts now.

Players from every club, including Grand Finalists West Coast and Collingwood, returned to work on Monday to begin pre-season training for next year. 

For the teams who finished outside the eight, senior players joined their younger teammates who have already been on the track for a couple of weeks.

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It's day one for the first to fourth-year players at most of the finalists, with senior players due back on December 3.

Dylan Shiel's life as a Bomber officially started as he joined his new teammates including Joe Daniher and Zach Merrett as Essendon's full squad reported for training, while Tom Lynch's life as a Richmond player is officially underway as he returned with the Tigers' young players at Punt Rd.

Carlton recruits Mitch McGovern and Alex Fasolo hit the training track with their new teammates, including co-captain Patrick Cripps and emerging star Charlie Curnow.

At Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury returned early, just as he did last year, as the Magpies' first-to-fourth-year players reported for day one of pre-season. Recruit Jordan Roughead also returned early as he looks to impress in black and white, while ACL victim Lynden Dunn ran laps. Star Jordan De Goey was also among the players to return in sweltering conditions at the Holden Centre.

The Herald Sun and News Corp network watched every club all day, recap our blog below for all the photos and latest news from the training tracks.

Originally published as Pre-season is officially underway for all AFL clubs as road to 2019 begins

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