Mitch Robinson says changes to the Club’s fitness program have provided the Brisbane Lions with a new energy in 2016.

“Damien Austin’s come in (from the Sydney Swans) with a bit more of a focus on legs and a lot of long distance (running) to simulate games,” Robinson told Darren Parkin on The Zone Podcast.

“The drills have been high intensity: we’ve been training for about 80-90 minutes, three times a week now.”

In a bid to reduce the amount of on-field congestion, interchange numbers will be slashed this season from 120 per match to 90 for the first time since 2011.

“It’s (the fitness program) a lot different from we were doing last year. It was more short distance, sprinting, but you have to take into consideration that we had more rotations then too.”

Robinson revealed that he is eager to get stuck into a new season of football, despite being tested in harsh training conditions.

“Three hours on the field in the beautiful heat up here you do get zapped at times,” Robinson said.

“We’re crying out for games, we’re ready to go.”

As one of the four winners of the Lions' Best and Fairest in 2015, Robinson said he was confident that with the right structures in place, changes will come.

“We consider ourselves a pretty fit team. Comparing our time trial times to other Clubs that we hear about we’ve got a fair few that are right up there.

“We know that if we use the ball correctly going forward instead of using our fitness to chase opponents all day we can use it to our advantage.

“We know what we’re capable of and hopefully with the new inclusions in Bastinac, Bell and Josh Walker we can get some more experience and wins on the board.”