With a knee injury now behind him, Swans utility Craig Bird has started to ramp up his preparations for season 2015.
Bird, who injured his knee late last season, had a delayed start to pre-season training but he's now confident he was getting back to his best.
“I had a minor clean out in my knee so I was just getting back before Christmas and doing lots of running,” Bird said.
“I’m pretty much in full training at the moment – I’m getting up towards three sessions a week.
“I was just doing two sessions a week until last week, so I’m getting my fitness right back to where it was at the end of last year which is good.
“It’s taken a bit longer to get into the swing of things with my fitness and skills.
“The last few weeks I’ve been getting right up there and back to my best which is a positive going into the games soon.”
The Swans have an intra-club practice match next Friday (February 27) ahead of their first NAB Challenge match on March 6.
Bird said the pre-season games would help give the Swans an indication of where they sit at this stage of the year.
“I think we’ve been working really hard – everyone’s pretty fit and the skill level at training has been really good,” he said.
“When the games start in a few weeks we’ll see how we’re travelling against the other sides.
“At the moment we’re looking pretty good.”
Bird gets the handball away against West Coast last year.
Bird said he was looking forward to seeing the club’s young talent in action, including the likes of Daniel Robinson and Brandon Jack, plus first-year players Jack Hiscox and Isaac Heeney.
With 131 games under his belt, the in-and-under utility is now one of the Swans’ most experienced players.
Bird averaged almost 20 disposals per match last season – featuring more prominently in a midfield role – before missing the final two rounds of the home-and-away season with injury.
He played as the substitute throughout the Swans’ finals campaign.
Having played a variety of roles since making his AFL debut in 2008, Bird said he hoped to find himself in a similar role to last season again in 2015.
However, he said developing players’ versatility had been a key focus during pre-season for the Swans.
“Hopefully I’ll play through the midfield again and in that half forward role,” Bird said.
“At training they’ve thrown a few players into different positions to give us a few different looks around the midfield, half back and half forward.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of players playing different roles this year so we’ll just have to adjust.”
Bird, who was recruited to Nelson Bay, will head to Newcastle as part of the Swans’ Australia Post AFL Community Camps on Monday and Tuesday.
He said he was looking forward to heading home to Nelson Bay.
“I go up to Newcastle most years,” he said.
“It’s always good to go up there and see how AFL’s progressing and just see everyone who’s involved in AFL up there.”