In pouring rain on a muddy track, Dane Rampe and rookie Lloyd Perris performed best in the time trial, with first-year player Perris leading for the first 1500 metres before Rampe stormed home in the final lap to post the best time of the day.
Speaking to SwansTV after the first session, Rampe, who recently returned from an off-season trip to Eastern Europe, said he was happy with his first pre-season effort.
“I felt pretty good actually,” Rampe said.
“We came in and we had a three kilometre time trial, which is pretty much standard when you come back at the start of pre-season and then we did a couple of four-minute, two-minute and one-minute efforts.
“I didn’t really know where I was at and I’ve just been in Europe, so I tried to get as much running as I could get done over there.
“It’s hard to tell on a different track, so it’s hard to compare time wise, but I felt pretty good out there.”
Rampe said he felt positive about this year’s pre-season, adding he hoped to build on his impressive debut season, which saw him play 23 senior games.
“I know what’s expected now and I’m a lot more confident just to voice my opinion in the group having played last year,” he said.
“I feel really good and I’ve built a really good foundation, so that’s what I’m looking forward to building on this pre-season.”
Dean Towers, Harry Cunningham and Jordan Lockyer closed out the top five, while Harrison Marsh was one of the big improvers, finishing just behind the leading group.
Senior players Sam Reid, Gary Rohan, Alex Johnson, Tom Mitchell and Tommy Walsh were all at Monday’s session, but did not take part in the time trial.
Rohan and Reid ran their individual programs, including short sprints, while Johnson, Mitchell and Walsh trained lightly and completed a touch session.
International rookie Patrick Mitchell and recent recruit Jeremy Laidler were also at Monday’s session and ran laps and did some minor skill work together.
