The Sydney Swans’ senior players were back for pre-season training at Moore Park’s Lakeside Oval on Monday, following the return of the club’s second- to fifth-year players a fortnight ago.

The session began with a two-kilometre time trial, which Jordan Dawson won, before a series of quick, short repetitions and skills work followed.

Among the group of players who returned for full training were star Swans Josh Kennedy, Dane Rampe, Isaac Heeney and Jake Lloyd, while Lance Franklin, Aliir Aliir, Sam Naismith and Callum Sinclair were among those on modified programs.

Sydney coach John Longmire is rapt to have so many of his players back for pre-season training so early.

“It’s a bit different for us. It’s not only the earliest we’ve been back for a while but the most amount of numbers we’ve had on the track for quite a long time. We don’t want to make a habit of starting this early, but now we’ve got this we’ll make the most of that chance,” Longmire said.

“Our playing group has come back in really good condition. We’ve got a handful or less players in our rehab group and we hope to have all of them up and training before Christmas. That’s a significant difference to recent years. We know there’s still a lot of work to be done and that it doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s a good start to have access to almost the entire playing group.”