Canberra Raiders' five-eighth Jack Wighton has described his side's first session back as a 'reality check' as Ricky Stuart put the green machine through its paces on Monday.
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The NRL season is set to kick-off on May 28 and while Wighton's cardiovascular system took a hit in his first day back, he was stoked to see his mates again.
"I came in full of smiles and was very happy to see all the boys again but by the end of fitness I couldn't stand up," Wighton said.
"I've got a couple of weeks to fix it so I'm looking forward to it."
Training in isolation brought its challenger for Wighton as he found it hard to work towards a return date that hadn't yet been pencilled in.
"It's hard to motivate yourself without a deadline to come back to," he said.
"Once we found it there was a deadline it was a little bit easier.
"There was a lot of long distance running for me but I should have done a bit more I think... I was a bit behind the eight ball today."
Ricky Stuart addressed the side on its first day and left a lasting message with the players about what attitude and application he expects from here on in.
"We started the comp in a good way and won the first two games but it means absolutely nothing," he said.
"We'll be putting in the hard work to keep it that way."
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