Exciting Sydney Swans prospect Jordan Dawson is charging through the 2020 pre-season sweat on the back of a stellar breakout campaign – and he has two wins chalked up to prove it.
When the versatile Swan won Sydney’s 2019 Most Improved honour at September’s Club Champion Dinner, he iced a season stamped with 20 of a possible 22 AFL games and a highlights reel packed with immaculate ball use and impressive marks.
The 2015 draftee has since returned to pre-season training in similar fashion, edging Zac Foot in a two-kilometre time trial a fortnight ago and pipping Robbie Fox on Monday.
Dawson is thrilled with the shape he’s in.
“I’m pretty happy with how I’m running at the moment. It’s good to be fit and the body’s holding up pretty well,” Dawson told SwansTV.
“It’s always a good test, the two-kilometre time trial. You can’t really hide, especially if you’re just coming back from the off-season.
“It’s good to see where everyone is at fitness-wise and everyone’s pretty competitive.
“It was good to get the win over the guys but I’m just looking to keep training and stay fit.
“Winning the Most Improved award gave me heaps of confidence. Throughout the year I felt like I was developing and gaining more confidence throughout each game. I’m using last season as a stepping stone and I want to play more of an important role in whichever position I play in 2020 and become a bit more of a leader as well. Those are my goals for the new year.”
The second- to fifth-year Swans returned for the pre-season grind on November 4, before the club’s senior players joined them on Monday.
Sydney co-captains Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dane Rampe, and star forward Lance Franklin, are among the experienced Swans now officially back.
Franklin underwent off-season surgery on his ankle and glute but is aiming to be tackling full training before the Christmas break.
Restricted pre-seasons over the last two years limited the four-time Coleman medallist to just 29 AFL games across 2018 and 2019, but he’s now on the verge of enjoying his strongest pre-season in red and white yet.
Dawson is enjoying hitting the track with the senior players.
“It’s pretty exciting to be back into it with the whole group,” Dawson said.
“The first couple of weeks with the young boys were good but it’s great to have everyone back here. Everyone looks pretty fit and we’re ready to get into it."
Among the group are three new faces: former Brisbane forward Lewis Taylor, ex-Port Adelaide forward Sam Gray and former Hawthorn defender Kaiden Brand.
Sydney recruited Taylor via a three-way trade with Brisbane and Carlton, before locking in Gray and Brand in the delisted free-agency period.
Dawson is impressed with the early signs the three new Swans have shown.
“They’ve been really good. They’ve settled in really well and they’re all training and looking fit,” Dawson said.
“It’s good to have some experience added to the group and I look forward to getting stuck in to some match play with those guys.”
