Kennelly, who spent last November at home in Kerry with family, said the setback to his right knee had been frustrating.
“I had a mishap at home and I had surgery when I came back to Australia in December, so I’ve been doing a lot of rehab but I’m back running now and should get a game in before the season starts,” Kennelly told sydneyswans.com.au.
“It’s been frustrating being injured, but I’m definitely on track to play round one. At the moment I’m still seven weeks away from round one, but anything can happen and I’m not going to put myself under any pressure.
“I think what happens every year is you come off six months without playing any footy and all the focus is on round one. But often when you’re in the season, you want to have a game off here or there, but you don’t think about that during the summer.”
After making his Swans debut in 2001, Kennelly played for the club until the end of 2008 - including the 2005 premiership - but left to pursue an All-Ireland title for his club at home.
When he achieved that in 2009, Kennelly returned to the Swans, and admits that he was surprised at how much the game had changed in only a year away.
“A year out for me was great physically, I was able to freshen up and I had a good season last year injury-wise (Kennelly played 20 games). The game has certainly sped up a lot, however, and you can see why the AFL is trying to slow it down a certain degree,” the 29-year-old said.
“There was a lot of nerves last year having had a year out of the game, and having the season under my belt should see my football come on in 2011,” Kennelly said.
While Kennelly said it was likely top Swans draft picks Jed Lamb and Luke Parker would be given senior experience throughout 2011, the creative backman said he was most encouraged by the way new players had embraced the club’s culture.
“We’ve had 20 new players into the club in 12 months, which is enormous. Last year was a fantastic step for us with so many new players in the team, and the players actually buy into what the club stands for,” he said.
“The culture that we have at the club is quite an honest and brutal set-up at times and it’s great to see new players come to the club and see what’s expected of them.”
Under new coach John Longmire, Kennelly said a few elements of the Swans’ game plan had been tweaked, but the fundamentals - contested football, tackling, and a focus on defence - would remain the same.
Kennelly cited the defensive nature of the two teams to play off in this week’s NFL Super Bowl as an indication that defence was “what wins you premierships".
“That’s what we’re striving to get to,” he said.
