Mariners Mile Jedinak and Dean Heffernan and Jets duo Ante Covic and Jade North have been invited for extra fitness training ahead of national team duty in May and possibly June.

“It’s been good. The facilities are actually first class here,” Olyroo assistant coach Ron Smith told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“The boys are working well. It’s for their benefit and to keep them ticking over for upcoming national team games.”

The camp has been designed to accelerate players’ fitness levels, particularly those who have been on holiday.

Smith added: “It is partly to bump up the players’ fitness levels. We’ve got a pool of 30-35 players and we’ve got around 20 here.

"It’s the only way you can manage a whole group, you’ll never get them all together at the same time.

“A lot of the other players in the ACL are still playing so we’ve not been able to get any of their Olyroo squad players.

“The problem with Olympic players is keeping in touch with them."

Smith added that should a Townsville bid be successful, the facilities would be a fillip.

“The quality of the surface is first class," he said. "If their A-League team up here had access to these facilities up here, it would be an ideal base.”