Sydney Swans defender Nick Smith produced another consistent season in 2012, and had the responsibility of shutting down some of the competition’s best small forwards.

In this year’s Grand Final, Smith managed to keep goal-sneak Cyril Rioli goalless and was recognised as one of the Swans standout performers on the day.

Smith’s team focus and work ethic was also recognised this year, with the 24-year-old being honoured with the Barry Round Best Clubman award at the recent Club Champion Dinner.

Smith spoke to sydneyswans.com.au about his season and the team effort which saw the Swans achieve premiership glory in 2012.

How did you view your season this year?

I think it was pretty consistent and I think I improved again and I guess that’s what I’m aiming to do every year, so I think it was a consistent year.

What about the team as a whole, what improvements have they made over the last year?

I think there have been massive improvements. I was looking at some footy from round one, two and three and how much we improved actually through the year, we just got better and better and we ended up playing our best footy when it really counted which was really good.

What are some of the best attributes of the team?

I think probably the evenness and the spread of guys who give their effort every week. We didn’t have any passengers and we just had everyone contributing.

What have you made of the Swans defence this year and how has it improved?

We’ve played a fair bit of footy together now and it’s a really tight group. It’s funny whenever we have a lunch or anything like that we end up sitting together and that kind of thing, so it’s a really tight group and I think we play our footy like that as well. There is a lot of trust between us and when we’re out there we know what each other is doing and I think it makes for a really strong defence.

Who of the younger guys has really stepped up and impressed you in 2012?

Lewis Jetta this year, compared to his year last year, has come a long, long way. We’ll be looking for him to get better again. We will also look for Luke Parker to keep on improving. It was a real shame about Gary Rohan this year but we’ll be looking for him to come through again and we’re really hoping he comes through. Alex Johnson also had a super year this year. For a guy who is only playing his second year, he was really good as well.

How does it feel to be a premiership player?

To be honest, you look at the photos and that kind of thing and it’s amazing. You just can’t put it into words I guess. Talking about it, we want to do it again that’s for sure but we’re really lapping it up at the moment and it’s an incredible feeling.

What moment/s stood out for you from the Grand Final?

I think Mal’s last goal as well as Hanners going back into the contest and getting absolutely crunched. I’ve watched the game a couple of times now and just everyone hitting in and as I said, we had no passengers, and that’s the thing I’ll take away from it the most.

Where were you when Nick Malceski kicked the final goal?

I actually thought there were a few minutes left when he kicked it, so I was yelling at blokes to run back and didn’t  get too excited in the celebrations, well, not as excited as Mal anyway. I was pretty close by and I just was hoping that the ball would keep travelling through the goals.

Did the final siren come as a bit of a shock to you?

I didn’t know when the siren was going so I was just in defence trying to make sure that (Hawthorn) didn’t kick a goal.

What are your plans for the off-season?

I’ll be going to the Great Barrier Reef with my family for about five days and then heading over to New York and San Francisco with Heath Grundy and Mike Pyke.