Richmond’s players have completed a gruelling first full day training on their pre-season camp in Townsville.

The Tigers arrived in North Queensland on Sunday afternoon and settled in, before being tested physically on Monday, including a combination of full training, weights and a 20km bike ride.

“It’s been bloody hard, the first day,” Richmond ruckman Ivan Maric told SEN radio.

“I’m very sore, but that’s the way footy is, and you just have to tough it out.”

Maric was among the group of older Richmond players to return to pre-season training on December 24.

“Everyone’s come back in really good shape,” he said.

“We do have a break after the season, but still you have to be professional and stay in shape.  You have to live and breathe your job.”

Photo gallery: Day 1 of pre-season camp

Maric said the Club’s five new draftees have let actions, rather than words, do the talking in the first few days of meeting their new team-mates.

And, he discovered he had more in common with the Tigers’ first pick than he thought.

“They’re all pretty quiet kids, and they’re not really saying too much.  They’re just doing the hard yards first, which is a credit to them,” he said.

“I had to pick up one of them, Corey Ellis, on the way to the airport on Sunday morning.

“I met the parents, and had to take him away from them.

“He lives in the same street that I lived in, when I lived in Keilor as a kid, so I knew exactly where it was.”

While Maric is best known for his exploits wearing the Yellow and Black on the MCG, it was a passion for another code, soccer, which stole the headlines last week.

Renew or join as a Richmond member for the 2015 season

The 28-year-old was voted in as president of St Albans Saints Soccer Club.

“It was something I always wanted to do, but I didn’t think it was going to happen so soon,” he said.

“It just sort of happened on the night, and I had to ring my wife quickly to get the thumbs up from her.

“I’ve got a really good committee. They know my situation, and they’re going to help me out as much as they can.

“I’ll have to put in the time, and that’s fine, because it’s community work, and I enjoy doing community work.  I do that every year anyway.

“It’s something I’m really looking forward to.”