Building up to first trial - Henry

Toyota Cowboys coach Neil Henry is about to start his fifth season in charge of the North Queensland NRL team and is chasing a record three consecutive finals appearances in season 2013.

Here's what he had to say this week on some key topics as the second half of pre-season training gets underway.

The resumption of pre-season:

"The boys have come back in good shape and Paul Bowman is very happy with them.

"We've done some tough sessions and are building up now to our first trial coming up in about a month's time when we're off to Mt Isa.

"We're still in a real conditioning and strength phase, but our ball work will ramp up and there'll be a real emphasis on defence as well. We are looking to improve in that area in particular."

Injured players:

"The guys who had their shoulder surgeries are starting to come back into a bit of ball work.

"They'll start getting into some contact in the next couple of weeks.

"It's an exciting time because we've got the full complement of 37 players in training now."

The halfback position:

"Morgo finished off the year really well for the club so I suppose he's in the box seat and it's up to Robert Lui and Ray to get in there and push for selection."

The first pre-season trial on 9 February:

"I'd imagine we're going to send a pretty strong team to Mt Isa to play the Broncos just to gauge where some players are at and the depth we have in the club."