NEW SYDNEY Swans ruckman Mark Seaby says he never thought his AFL career was over despite enduring two difficult seasons with the Eagles.

The former West Coast ruckman took part in his first pre-season training session at Centennial Park on Friday morning, meeting many of his new teammates for the first time.

Seaby looks set to assume the role as the Swans No.1 ruckman in 2010 - a far cry from the bit-part player he became in his last two years with the Eagles, when he played just 19 of a possible 44 games.

“I still felt I had a lot to offer and even if I wasn’t playing great footy, I was still hoping that I could seek a trade or a draft,” he said.

“Even if it was just on a minimal contract, I still felt I could offer something. It was just about trying to play well at the time.

“About halfway through the year, it got pretty hard for me. I wasn’t even playing good footy in the WAFL so that was a bit of a concern but I felt I turned that around towards the end of the year and got something out of it.”

With 102 games under his belt, Seaby expected to join the Swans as a partner to Darren Jolly, who enjoyed a career-best year in 2009.

But the landscape shifted dramatically with Jolly’s departure to Collingwood during trade week.

“When I first came over here about a month ago, it was all about how Darren and I could work together and that obviously went out the window when he got traded,” Seaby said.

“We’ll see what happens now with Shane [Mumford] and myself and Pykey [Mike Pyke].

“That’s the really exciting thing for [all] of us. We’ve got a long way to go in our development and how far we can go.”

After so many epic battles with the Swans as a West Coast player, Seaby, 25, said he never expected to be lining up in the red and white against his former team.

However, he said the prospect of immersing himself in the club’s famous Bloods culture was inviting.

“I definitely have some excitement about that aspect of how they do have that real strong culture here. I think we had that at West Coast as well,” he said.

“There was nothing [of the Swans] that we tried to really emulate; we tried to produce our own unique culture. Now I look forward to being part of this one and hopefully adding to it.”

Seaby also said he would enjoy a break from the intense public focus on Western Australia’s two football teams.

“I’ve never had too much of a profile anyway, so it’s never really bothered me too much,” he said with a laugh.

“It was always Juddy and Cuzzy and Coxy and Kerry, those sort of guys, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

“Perth is a pretty small hub with only two teams and they’re fanatical about their football. It will be nice as a team in general to have a bit of a lower profile.”