Sam Day worked on his agility, Kade Kolodjashnij was wearing headgear and captain Steven May was back early as Gold Coast continued its pre-season training on Thursday morning.

Into week two of life under new coach Stuart Dew, the Suns underwent a long session in warm conditions, with May, Day, Jarryd Lyons and Tom Nicholls among the experienced players returning early.

Day suffered a dislocated hip in the opening quarter of last season's JLT Cup, a horrific injury that wiped him out for the year. 

On Gold Coast's training field that adjoins Metricon Stadium, Day took part in some light kicking drills before progressing his rehab with plenty of running and agility drills to strengthen the hip.

The 25-year-old key position player is expected to begin contact work in the coming weeks and resume full training after Christmas.

Kolodjashnij is another Sun on the comeback trail from an interrupted 2017 in which he missed the final 10 matches with the lingering effects of a concussion suffered against Carlton in round 13.

The rebounding defender took part in everything on Thursday sporting a mostly-green helmet.

One standout feature of the session was the decision-making Dew expected from his young players under pressure.

Players broke off into small groups and conducted a number of drills in tight spaces that forced them to make quick decisions either by hand or foot.

The former Port Adelaide and Hawthorn premiership player – bathed in white zinc to combat the Queensland sun – then took a very hands-on approach as the Suns began working on transitioning the ball from half-back.