Travis Cloke has put his euphoric 2007 Copeland Trophy triumph behind him as he prepares for an even bigger 2008 season.

Speaking after training just outside Sun City in South Africa on Wednesday, Cloke, who turns 21 in March, emphasised he is fully focused on getting his season off to a good start against the Crows in the first pre-season cup match in Dubai on February 9.

"The boys remind me a fair bit (about the Copeland), weekly actually, so they’ve got into me about that, but it’s pretty much out of my mind now," said Cloke.

"The '08 season is on track, and a week to go until Adelaide, and really looking forward to that."

In terms of his 2008 ambitions, Cloke, who emerged as one of the premier young key forwards in the competition last year, is only really worried about a solid pre-season campaign at this stage.

"Short term goals, just week by week, and take it that way, and just try and win the first game against Adelaide, move on to the second week, and try and go as far as we can in the NAB Cup."

Collingwood travelled to Sun City on Wednesday after spending the first week of its two-and-a-half week high-altitude training camp in the heart of Potchefstroom utilising the facilities at the North-West University, before spending a couple of days about half-an-hour away at the Elgro River Lodge, where they took part in non-football activities like ropes courses and kayaking.

"Potchefstroom… not much there to do but a lot of hard work and training, and a few days out there at the retreat and gaming village."

The players immediately hit the training track upon arriving in Sun City, using a large field normally set aside for parallel soccer fields, completing an intensive session focused on ball movement and stoppage structures at the base of a stunning adjacent mountain range.

"It’s an amazing part of the world in Sun City, the weather is just absolutely amazing," added Cloke.

The training has been conducted at altitude of up to 1600 metres allowing the players to experience the subsequent physical benefits, similar to when they were in Arizona in November of 2005 and 2006, of which Cloke was a part of on both occasions.

"You feel it (the thinner air at altitude), but not as much as Arizona, you still get that extra benefit, and that’s what we’re looking for, that one or two per cent extra."

The squad will return to Potchefstroom for the weekend where they will contest an intra-club practice match as part of preparation for the following week’s clash in Dubai.

A group of players not participating in the Dubai game will head to Cape Town to conduct a Telstra Community Camp in what is Collingwood’s designated AFL development zone.