Determined to make strides this pre-season, Jack Scrimshaw had initially planned to remain in Melbourne for the entirety of his off-season.

But Hawks teammate Dylan Moore had other plans.

He invited Scrimshaw along to his European getaway one day, they booked the next and jetted out the following day.

"We ended up going to Europe for three weeks," Scrimshaw laughed.

The pair of sports fanatics watched a Champions League game between Real Madrid and PSG as well as catching an Ashes test in London.

But, having returned from his sudden trip, Scrimshaw now has his heart set on making some real strides this pre-season.

"I'm looking to improve my fitness base," Scrimshaw said.

"This is just my second pre-season I'm coming into that so I'm just looking to keep building my tank and obviously get stronger as well.

"The running half-back position requires a fair bit of running these days so that's the main area of improvement for me."

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In his first year in the brown and gold, Scrimshaw quickly drew comparison to four-time premiership Hawk Grant Birchall with his raking left-foot kick and ability to multiple roles within the back-half. 

With Birchall departing the club to head to Brisbane in the recent trade period, Scrimshaw has an opportunity to further ceement his place in the senior side in 2020. 

"I obviously watched Birch for a very long time and moulded my game on his a fair bit.

"It was a bit disappointing not to get to actually play with him last year but hopefully he enjoys his change of scenery next year."

Scrimshaw also heaped praise on some senior teammates who have returned to training early, including James Sicily, Tom Mitchell and James Frawley.