Second-year Essendon forward Josh Begley motors in 2km time trial

JOSH Begley was given the nickname “Fridge” from veteran teammate James Kelly last year but the second-year forward has taken his fitness to a new level after his effort in a 2km time trial at Tullamarine.

THE fridge was running at Tullamarine on Friday.

Josh Begley, whose 188cm 94kg frame earned him the nickname “Fridge” from veteran teammate James Kelly, motored through a soggy 2km time trial.

The second-year teenage forward was the quickest Bomber forward home — and seventh overall — in the time of 6min44secs, behind winner Paddy Ambrose.

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“I’ve tried to work on my aerobic fitness over the last couple of years so it’s good to see it is paying off,” Begley said.

“My aerobic capacity I wanted to work on, but I got to a level last year that I was happy with, so I think I can run out games now better than I did probably 24 months ago, which is nice.”

Josh Begley powered through Essendon’s 2km time trial. Picture: Michael Klein

Begley, taken with pick 31 in the 2016 national draft, made his AFL debut against Gold Coast in Round 22 last season, going on to play in the elimination final loss to Sydney and booting five goals in three appearances.

“I guess that debut really showed me the areas I needed towork on over pre-season and it’s driving me with the goals I need to set and work on. It’s definitely a driving factor,” he said.

“I’m into the third week of pre-season now and I definitely feel more up and about. Last year was pretty tough the first couple of weeks, getting home and sleeping for 12 hours.

“It’s really exciting around the club at the moment with a new recruits we’ve got over the off-season and the young group we have. Guys like (Darcy) Parish and (Andrew) McGrath are really pushing the older boys to get better.

“Our core group is really young, which is promising.”