The Pirtek Parramatta Eels have become the first NRL team to start pre-season training, returning to the paddock under rain-filled skies at Parramatta Stadium Wednesday.

Check out photos from day one of training below...

The Eels – including new faces Kevin Kingston, Jeff Robson, Greg Nichols and Callan Richardson – kicked off preparations for 2009 with gym, skills and conditioning sessions under the watchful eyes of assistant coaches David Fairleigh and Matt Cameron.

“We’re obviously starting a bit early,” Cameron said before the start of the session, “and we’re trying to make the most of it.

“’Daisy’ and I were over here yesterday just sorting out some stuff and one of the issues was sun cream – don’t think we need that today.

“But there’s some good opportunities for the younger boys that are in the squad at the moment, we’ve got five or six boys on World Cup duty, so for them it’s a great opportunity to put their best foot forward and put some pressure on the boys coming back for spots.

Cameron and Fairleigh will run the team while a replacement for recently departed head coach Michael Hagan is finalised.

“It’s just business as usual, there’s no change from my point of view,” Fairleigh said.

“We’ve still some work to do and after reviewing last season it doesn’t matter who’s here, we’ve just got to get the work done and the rest will take care of itself.

"I’m not here to talk about the future, we’ve just got to get the job done over the next few weeks and all the coaching stuff will sort itself out.

“Fans at every club want success, coaches want success, players want success, it’s a tremendously tough competition the NRL, everyone’s starting off fresh and everyone wants to win.”

2008 rookie Kris Keating said it was good to get back into training after what seemed a longer than six-week lay off.

“It is pretty early but everyone’s keen to get back into it, after the year we had last year everyone’s looking to improve and everyone looks pretty keen this morning so it’s a good start,” Keating said.

The Eels stepped out in their new ISC-designed training kit for the first time Wednesday, the new look modeled on the iconic Eels jerseys of the 1980’s.

The team will once again mix up their pre-season preparations, with three separate trips to the infamous Wanda sand hills planned for the weeks to come alongside regular gym, fitness and skill sessions.

EELS HIT THE PADDOCK FOR PRE-SEASON 2009 Assistant coaches David Fairleigh (L) & Matt Cameron (R) with Rod Reddy  29 Oct 2008 1 of

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