West Coast defender Reuben Ginbey has hit back at criticism of the team's training standards, saying the players are not afraid to run until they spew or collapse.
Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell accused the Eagles of displaying "serious mental weakness" after vision emerged of players collapsing after a series of gruelling pre-season sprints.
The club's first-to-fourth year players started Monday's session with a set of 11 200m sprints.
With players pushing themselves to the limit, some collapsed upon reaching the finish line.
And while most people would view the situation as a positive for West Coast, Mitchell labelled it as "utterly embarrassing".
"Look at the body language," Mitchell posted on Instagram alongside of a still of Eagles players after the run.
"To the far left there, there's a player on his haunches. Just to his right, a player laying on his back. Below, four players on their hands and knees, and another on his back.
"That is serious mental weakness. They're basically showing all the opposition out there that as soon as it gets hard, we're going to roll on the ground and act like we're dying."
Ginbey was full of praise for the way the players pushed themselves to the limit.
"Most people in their life have never run till they can’t stand, or (until they) spew," Ginbey said on Wednesday.
"I want to see the boys run until they drop.
"This is a time trial, you only do two a year. The pressure you put on yourselves is what we love. It's an elite environment. I couldn’t be more proud of the boys."
Ginbey was careful to bat away Mitchell's criticism in a respectful way.
"Tom Mitchell had his view and he’s well and truly got the right to have his opinion. He’s a very decorated player," Ginbey said of Mitchell, who played for Sydney, Hawthorn and Collingwood during his 207-game career.
"But myself and other leaders of this club, the way we’re looking at it, we thought the boys had a great crack and the quality of training afterwards, which is more important, was awesome as well."
Ginbey, who suffered a season-ending quad tear in round 13, has recovered well and was part of the group of Eagles players pushing themselves to the brink during the sprint session.
