Collingwood assistant coach Ben Hart is confident the club’s revamped pre-season program will prove a boon to the efforts of his defensive unit during the 2014 AFL season.

After a campaign littered with oscillating displays, Collingwood is seeking greater consistency and cohesion in the composition of its back line, which Hart believes, will be aided by the new training regime headed by new High Performance Manager Bill Davoren.

“On the footy field, you do notice the boys are bigger and stronger in their one-on-one contests and they appear to be running a lot better, or getting across the ground a lot better,” Hart said.

“(It) is going to help as a defensive coach because it means we can cover the ground more often, we should be able to cover more leads and more options so it’s fitting in nicely.”

Following the arrival of Davoren, Collingwood has enjoyed a marked shift in the emphasis of its training regimen, with the previously traditional sojourn to altitude replaced by a high intensity approach placing an emphasis on strength and endurance.

With the recently completed renovations to the Westpac Centre, which saw the installation of a customised gymnasium, and one of the largest altitude training rooms in the world, providing the stage, Hart said the benefits of the philosophical change in tack has proven immediately evident.

“The strength and conditioning is a massive component, as it is in every pre-season, but it’s changed for us a bit this year,” he said.

“The conditioning is matching the game style we want to play, and the weights which the boys are really digging into will help with all that one-on-one contested style we still love to play.”

While the evolution of that playing style became readily apparent over the course of last season, Collingwood’s off-season recruiting drive, and the continued development of its emerging talents has left Hart and his coaching colleagues with a series of selection dilemmas.

One of which lies with the positional fate of swingman Ben Reid, an All-Australian centre-half forward who flourished when thrust forward towards the latter part of the 2013 campaign.

As a foil to Travis Cloke, Reid’s strong hands, considerable stamina and accuracy in front of goal made him a valuable weapon as the Pies marched towards September.

However, his pedigree and value to the Magpies rearguard as a key defensive option remains.

Hart said: “Ben Reid can play both ends which is great for us, a lot of that will have to do with how Lachy Keeffe fits in and where we think he plays his best footy as well.

“I’d love to keep him down back, ‘Reidy’ is a fantastic defender, but he’ll play where the team needs him at the time. It’s a good problem to have.”