STAR recruit Patrick Dangerfield has officially begun his first pre-season with the Cats.

The 25-year-old, who only returned from the International Rules trip to New York and Dublin on Monday night, had a light run with his new teammates at Newtown Oval on Wednesday morning.

“I haven’t done too much today, but it’s a good feeling,” he said after completing his brief session on the park.

“I had nerves last night and then nerves driving to training today. 

“But it’s certainly an exciting feeling, and to meet the players has been terrific.

“You shake their hand after a game and have a quick chat, but to be teammates now is a good feeling.”

Dangerfield is still in the process of settling into his house in the tiny coastal settlement of Moggs Creek.

“I’ve got the Himalayas of boxes throughout my house at the moment, so I haven’t moved totally in,” he said. 

“I suppose that will be done over the next couple of weeks.”

Looking to next season, Cats chief executive Brian Cook has made it clear that the club is aiming to return to the top four.

But Dangerfield isn’t making any predictions at this stage.

“I don’t think any group will ever put limitations on themselves,” he said. 

“For us, I suppose, it’s about getting that team cohesion that we need to build throughout the pre-season.

“It’s been a large off-season … with players moving out and new players coming in, so the pre-season, I’m assuming, will be used to build that cohesion and the game-style we need to play.

“But I’m certainly not going to put any predictions on how we’ll go this season just yet.”

Dangerfield’s pre-Christmas training program is still being sorted out, but it won’t be long before he’s in the main group 

“It’s been a whirlwind couple of days and I’m still a bit jet lagged,” he said.

“Over the next week, I’ll sit down with the conditioning staff and go through how pre-Christmas looks and make sure I’m in a good space come January, February and the season proper.”