Left "devastated" and hollow after last year's cruel end to the season, a reinvigorated and injury-free Kieren Jack is bullish about what the next month of football has in store.
The co-captain suffered a grade two medial ligament tear in his left knee in the Sydney Swans' final round clash with Gold Coast in what would prove to be his last game of the season.
He was ruled out of the Swans' Qualifying Final against Fremantle in Perth, only to fail in his bid to play in the following week's semi-final clash with North Melbourne at ANZ Stadium.
Jack pressed his case at training during the week. With his knee heavily strapped, the courageous skipper could run, but only in straight lines and could neither kick or turn properly.
With Luke Parker (knee) and Lance Frankllin (mental health) already on the sidelines, add to that the loss of Sam Reid who tore his hamstring against the Dockers, Jack was left out of the side and the Swans subsequently crashed out the finals race with a loss to the Roos.
Twelve months on and Jack has put aside last year's bad memories in favour of what the midfielder hopes is a bigger and brighter finals series.
"It was just so disappointing," Jack said of the injury.
"You work so hard during the year...so it's just devastating you can't be out there.
"This is the time of the year you want to be playing. I've heard people say it's a new season. There's a lot on the line but it's also really exciting and can bring a group together.
"I'm just rapt that I'm here and we're in a position again where we can challenge for it.
"This is where some moments and stories can hopefully be told for years to come."
Plagued by inconsistent form throughout 2015, the Sydney Swans fixed up that area and got back to their usually ultra-consistent selves.
Aside from losing a few tight contests along the way, Jack believes his side couldn't be better placed leading into the Clubs' seventh consecutive finals appearance.
"On reflection it has been a pretty consistent year," he added.
"When we set our goals at the start of the year, it's short term, you look in little blocks. But our overall focus was to just to play the sort of brand we wanted to play and, I think, for most of the year we were able to do that.
"We learned a lot throughout the year. We lost a number of close games by small margins or last kicks which was disappointing, but heading into this finals series hopefully we're a lot better prepared for those situations if they arise again."
