HAVING spent most of his footy career up forward, Sydney Swan Heath Grundy knows exactly where he wants to play in 2009.

Anywhere on the ground will do him just fine, as long as it's in the Swans' senior team.

After an eye-catching debut against Richmond in 2006 that produced three goals, seven marks and 15 touches, Grundy has struggled to cement a senior berth – adding 23 games since.

But the 22-year-old put together a string of matches late last year, playing largely as a backman, and he spent time in defence in Sunday's NAB Cup clash against Port Adelaide.

With a strong preparation under his belt, Grundy hopes his versatility will be a valuable addition to the Swans' campaign this season.

"I’ve been training mainly up forward for the pre-season and then in the back of my mind, I wasn’t sure whether I’d go down back [against Port Adelaide]," Grundy said.

"I had a feeling I might go down there and I had a run around and I felt comfortable.

"Last season I was down back a fair bit, probably more than forward. I’ve played down there a bit and I enjoyed it, so I'm happy to play anywhere."

Grundy said the Swans' form against the impressive Power was "up and down", but added it was pleasing to see the squad emerge relatively unscathed from its first hit-out of the year.

"Port’s been going a fair while and a few of the Port boys pulled their season short [last year] and had a few operations, so they were up and going pretty early," he said.

"They were a little bit ahead of us but we’ve had a pretty good pre-season and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be ready for round one."

Grundy needs to look no further than his own teammates for inspiration as he tries to claim a regular place.

Kieren Jack, Craig Bird and Jarred Moore combined for 67 senior games last year in a team that reached the second week of the finals.

Before 2008, Moore had played nine senior games; Jack had played two and Bird was yet to make his debut.

"There are definitely a lot more young guys coming through now; guys who haven't played a lot of games," Grundy said.

"We’ve got some great players like Kieren Jack and Jarred Moore who stepped up last year and I think that’s good for the young guys to show [each other] that they can do it."

Dream Team watch – Heath Grundy is rated a $236,100 forward/defender in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.