"The last day of the pre-season training is always tough," he said.
"Jacob's Ladder is hard work and it is a good session to finish with."
The coach was pleased with the condition of the players when they came into camp last month.
"Testing has shown that our base is far better in all areas - aerobic fitness, speed and strength - than last year," he said.
"I'm excited about the squad we've got.
"We want to do well and to do this we need the public in behind us."
Moore recognises the advantages the Highlanders have in being able to retain the core of their best players from last year.
"We've added some extra talent to that," Moore said.
"Last year we had 13 backs and eight were in their first year of Super 14.
"They have been through the conditioning programmes before and know what to expect."
Moore is confident the team will be operating from a good foundation when it gets into more on-field work in the New Year.
The main emphasis of this first period of training was on conditioning but the team has also done much skill work.
"The game-plan work will kick in when we return in the first week of January," Moore said.
"We have done just one scrum session."
Moore believes he has a better squad than last year and the goal is to win next year's Super 14.
"The first focus is to get to the play-offs," he said.
"Anything can happen on the day after that.
We have a good balance across the squad and there is real competition for starting spots."
The big bonus is to have five All Blacks - Jimmy Cowan and Jamie Mackintosh from Southland, and Adam Thomson, Tom Donnelly and Ben Smith from Otago - in the squad.
"That's good for the squad.
"There is going to be a lot of motivation around the Super 14 next year to get selected for World Cup training squads," Moore said.
He believes the selectors have solved the goal-kicking problems that plagued the Highlanders for the past two years.
The Air New Zealand Cup was a gauge, with Matthew Berquist kicking close to 87% for Hawkes Bay.
It was 12% better than anyone else in the competition.
Southland's Robbie Robinson has improved his goal-kicking and newcomer Michael Hobbs is accurate.
"But they must be able to deliver in a pressure-cooker environment," Moore said.
"We are doing a lot of work to get that right with our kicking coach Matt Carrington."
Another task the Highlanders have is to win the close games.
"Most of the games we lost last year were within a handful of points," Moore said.
"It was gut-wrenching.
"If we had converted a couple of those close losses to wins it would have put us in the top seven.
"There is not a lot between the top four and teams at the bottom."
The Highlanders did much of the pre-Christmas training in front of the public.
The team has worked at local gymnasiums and run around the city streets.
After the break, the Highlanders will spend time training in Oamaru, Invercargill and Queenstown.
"The boys have bonded well together and there is a real desire to do well next year," Moore said.
Moore will spend the Christmas break at his holiday house in Twizel with his family - wife Kathy and children Nick (21), Brooke (19) and Katelyn (13).
"It is a good time to be thinking about rugby when you are away from the day-to-day routine with the team," he said.
"There will be periods when I am working on the coming Super 14 campaign."
