Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley feels Darren Jolly's omission from the Magpies' leadership group will allow the ruckman to concentrate on ensuring his body gets through the long campaign ahead.
Jolly had played 142 games without missing a match before a knee injury forced him out of the Magpies' side that took on Richmond in Round 4 last year.
But that first missed game proved an omen of things to come as ongoing issues with his knee and groin saw the 30-year-old miss seven games in a row from Rounds 6 through to 15, restricting him to just 16 matches for the season.
Jolly looked a shadow of his dominant self as Geelong defeated Collingwood in the Grand Final, the pain of that match being clearly apparent on the ruckman's face almost 24 hours after that match.
As some of his younger team-mates even started cracking a smile or two at the club's official post-match function day after the match, Jolly's emotions still looked clearly written all over his face.
Buckley, though, believes that experience will just drive him on.
"The first name that stands out to me is Darren Jolly," said Buckley on Friday after training when asked who has really stood out at training through the summer so far.
"I think his pre-season's been excellent ... he's on his toes."
"He's probably feeling a little bit of a niggle from last year, his body didn't stand up for him as it has for the whole of his career and his form suffered as a result, but he's been exceptional, I thought today was excellent."
Jolly and Brownlow medallist Dane Swam were omitted from the Magpies' leadership group for this season as Heath Shaw, Travis Cloke and Dale Thomas were voted into an expanded seven-man group by their team-mates.
Buckley was adamant, however, that this omission didn't lessen Jolly or Swan's standing as leaders at the club, saying he feels it will only help protect Jolly somewhat from the rigours of the season ahead.
"He (Jolly) has been fantastic with the way he's attacked this pre-season," Buckley said.
"And, he's dragging blokes with him from a leadership sense in that regard."
"He's got a chance to make sure that he pays attention to what he needs to do from a body perspective and from a game-style perspective and he hasn't put a foot wrong."
"Swanny will do what he's always done and he'll lead by example," Buckley added, when asked how Swan had taken being omitted like this, less than six months after winning the Brownlow medal.
"(Swan will lead) primarily with what he does on the field."
"His form has been of such a high standard and so consistent in recent years and we expect that to continue, but the players believe that the guys they've chosen are the ones to take us forward."