When most people were preparing to ring in 2020 on New Year’s Eve, Eagles midfielder Jack Redden had two very different countdowns on his mind.

The first was the arrival of his second child and the other was the recommencement of pre-season training with his West Coast comrades.

Redden and wife Amy are still waiting to meet the fourth member of their growing family, but the bullish onballer was back on deck at Mineral Resources Park this morning and eager to rip into his first official hitout of the new decade.

The 29-year-old said the entire squad was champing at the bit to resume training following a three-week absence from the club.

“There’s obviously a lot of time off now, but you can’t afford to step back with the training,” Redden said.

“You’ve got to stay up to date with that and train really hard in your break or you just fall behind.

“You’re probably at risk of doing another injury or something like that, so you’ve got to be diligent with your program.

“I think the boys have done a bulk of work to set themselves up and they’re fit, so we’re ready to go straight into game simulation type stuff,” Redden said.

“I think we’re in a good space and the next few weeks it will be good fun to do a bit of game simulation (work).”

Part of that game simulation work will undoubtedly focus on integrating boom trade period acquisition Tim Kelly into the Eagles’ engine room.

The two-time Geelong best and fairest runner-up started training with the group in early December, but Redden suggested Kelly’s role within the club’s already formidable onball brigade would become clearer in the coming weeks.

“When the game simulation stuff starts I dare say (game plan and role conversations) will ramp up,” Redden offered.

“TK (Kelly) is good. He’s got a bit of flexibility. He can go forward, he can play midfield or he can play wing.

“He’s a pretty handy addition. I think all the boys are just excited to play with him and see what he’s going to bring.”