All-Australian defender Easton Wood has said his body has never felt better, as the Western Bulldogs prepare for their NAB Challenge opener Thursday week in Canberra.

Speaking with Ballarat’s WIN News after their AFL Community Camp open training session at Lake Wendouree Oval, Wood said that he’s enjoying the benefits of an uninterrupted offseason.

“I’ve been really happy,” Wood said.

“I didn’t need to have any surgery of any kind at the end of the year which is always great to start day one of preseason.

“It’s been really good and I’m really starting to feel the benefits of that.”

The 26-year-old enjoyed a career-best season in 2015, being named on the All-Australian half-back line, claiming the Sutton Medal as the Bulldogs’ best & fairest and being crowned the competition’s unofficial intercept mark king, cutting off opposition advances 75 times - an AFL record since the statistics’ inception in 1999.

Wood said that the team was naturally looking to build on last season.

Improvement the Wood believes could only be helped by the new faces drafted into the Club, all of which he said were mature beyond their years.

“The young boys have done really well,” he said.

“I don’t know if it’s a sign of the times or what, but the boys that come in now seem to be a bit further advanced.

“Whether that’s a reflection of the junior pathway programs, they have a good head on their shoulders and seem to have a good understanding and be ready to take on their first AFL preseason. 

“It can be a bit of an assault on an 18-year-old body, but they’re doing really well.”

However, with youth can come inexperience, and Wood said that the addition of former Brisbane captain and North Ballarat Rebels product Jed Adcock could only bolster the side’s leadership stocks.

“Jed brings such a wealth of experience.

“He’s previously been a captain and a high performer at his footy club, so someone like that is going to slot straight into to any kind of program, and we’ve seen the benefits of that.

“He gets around the young boys and helps us out.”

With the Bulldogs’ vision to play AFL games at a refurbished Eureka Stadium from 2017,  the newly named vice-captain said he was excited to spend more time in Ballarat, something he did plenty of while growing up.

“I had fond memories of going to Sovereign Hill as a kid and dressing up in all of the knickerbockers and getting the raspberry drops.

“I haven’t been able to sneak across and get any lollies yet but I’m hoping I can before we go.”