The Collingwood Magpies will arrive in the resort tomorrow for a week-long training camp, the first time the 123-year-old Melbourne-based club has used Wakatipu as a training venue.
Bill Davoren, formerly head coach of Triathlon Australia, said he had been to Queenstown many times, both with triathlon and other AFL teams, including the Bulldogs in 2010.
While the Pies travelled previously to Arizona for altitude training, it was getting ''harder and harder'' to take teams to the United States.
That was largely due to a cap on spending by football departments, which comes into effect this year.
The AFL and its clubs accepted a ''luxury tax'' on football department spending - clubs exceeding the foot cap will pay the AFL the lesser of $1 million or 37.5% of the excess. Repeat offenders will pay the lesser of 75% of the excess or $2 million.
''It [New Zealand] is cost-effective, it's easy ... as a training location it's a big possibility for the AFL,'' Davoren said.
''[The Queenstown Events Centre] is just awesome. It's a great facility.
''I wanted to bring [the team] to somewhere I knew was a really good place, with great training facilities and give them a great experience.
''I've travelled a lot and I just rate the whole place in terms of venues on offer, the location and the people.''
As part of their training camp, the 45 players would take part in adventure races, giving them both a physical and mental challenge, but they would also be given some down time ''to enjoy the place''.
This year's AFL season had been put back by three weeks to April, due to the Cricket World Cup.
That meant players had a 21-week pre-season and the decision to bring them to Queenstown was as much about providing a mental shift as a physical one, Davoren said.
Last year was the first time in eight seasons the Pies, who finished 11th, had missed the finals.
Davoren said there were various factors which ultimately led to one of the club's most disappointing results, including injuries, fatigue, and some ''fairly significant changes in how we operated''.
''All of that caught up with [us] a little bit towards the back end of the year.
''It's the first time we haven't been in the finals in eight years. That was shocking to some people, probably not for some others.
''Sixty percent of our list is 22 years or below. We're still a work in progress.''
Davoren said the team was now focused on the coming season and ''a great week of training''.
