TWELVE months ago Kieren Jack was one of several young, untried midfielders on the Sydney Swans’ list.

Heading into last year’s season opener against St Kilda with two AFL games under his belt, he was simply focused on fulfilling his role well enough to retain his place in the side for the following week.

Jack did that with aplomb and proceeded to entrench himself in a finals-bound Swans team with a combination of selfless discipline and an eye-catching ability to attack when the opportunity was presented.

Now, Jack and teammate Craig Bird – who enjoyed a similarly successful breakout season – are held up by club captains Brett Kirk, Adam Goodes and Craig Bolton as examples to the rest of the Swans youngsters.

In the lead-up to this year’s round-one clash against the Saints on Saturday night, the 21-year-old told sydneyswans.com.au of the contrast between 2008 and 2009.

“Last year, I came in round one and it was a bit of the unknown. I was just sort of going out and playing on will and instinct, and not worrying about anything,” Jack said.

“I was happy to play a fair few games after that. This year I know what to expect. I’m a bit more experienced and hopefully I can be consistent again and just have a really good year.”

After his success as one of the Swans’ key taggers in the absence of Jared Crouch, Jack said he was again likely to be cast in defensive midfield roles.

He said Crouch had given him some tips on getting under an opposition player’s skin – “he’s been told in the past that he’s a pest, so he’s a great example” – and hoped to put that knowledge into practice.

“With our game style, we still need some run-with players and Roosy’s still looking at me to do a few run-with roles throughout the year. But in saying that, hopefully at times he can also give me a bit of a run in the midfield as more of an offensive player,” he said.

“It is different – there’s a lot more freedom – but I still enjoy going back and annoying players and telling them they’re not going to get a kick.”

With a number of openings in the Swans’ side following a raft of retirements and injuries, Jack said the club’s young players were revelling in the atmosphere of “healthy competition”.

“All the young guys coming in are putting pressure on the older blokes, so that’s healthy. It makes the older blokes want to improve and get better as well.

“If the younger guys can lift their weight, it’s going to be healthy and increase our potential for the year.”

Dream Team watch – Kieren Jack is rated a $248,500 midfielder in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.