BRISBANE Lions midfielder Jed Adcock has vowed to turn around a disappointing 2008 by working harder than ever this pre-season.

In his first week back on the training paddock after two months off, the 22-year-old admitted he was not up to his normally high standards last year.

And rather than sitting on his backside during the break, he has been running and keeping fit in preparation for his sixth pre-season at the Lions.

With a one-on-one chat with new coach Michael Voss already under his belt, Adcock said he was excited at the prospect of returning to his best form when the 2009 season rolls around.

“If you have a disappointing season personally you feel like getting back into it and coming back bigger and better than ever,” he said.

“They say the harder you work the luckier you get. It’s just about being consistent at training for me.

“You have to work harder. It is a mindset of working hard no matter what it is. My fitness has never been bad, but you can always work on it.”

And other than the team’s week-long end-of-season trip to Bali, and another week in Byron Bay, Adcock has been working as hard as anyone during his break.

However it didn’t go all according to plan on the holidays.

“I got food poisoning the last night I was in Byron, which was a bit disappointing, but Bali was amazing,” he said.

Adcock said returning to training and seeing the first, second and third year players already with a week of hard work under their belt was motivation enough.

“I’m physically good and mentally good,” he said.

“Everyone is excited with the new systems in place. The training is really good and everything is heading in the right direction.

“The last four years we’ve been 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th in skills so we’ve identified that as an area to improve. A lot of our running this pre-season will be skills-based and with a footy.”

Adcock said he enjoyed a leadership role at the club and was hoping to help steer the Lions back to their first finals campaign since his debut season in 2004.

“If we don’t make the finals it will be extremely disappointing, but the things we’ve put in place at this stage are terrific,” he said.