Self-confessed poor early season form and an injury set-back hampered Swans midfielder Jed Lamb’s start to the 2012 season, but impressive performances late in the season earned the 20-year-old plenty of praise from the Swans coaches.

Lamb, who is yet to make his senior debut for the Swans, showcased his skills and speed in the latter half of the Swans reserves season and was named in the best on a number of occasions.

The second-year Swan, who travelled to Burma on a cycling tour alongside coach Jared Crouch and team mate Alex Brown during the off-season, told sydneyswans.com.au he is focused on pressing for senior selection in 2013.

How did you sum up your season in 2012?

The first half probably didn’t go as well as I had expected, I had pretty bad form and I wasn’t getting much of the footy. It wasn’t until after I came back from shin splints that I started to find a bit of form again and got a bit of confidence back. Towards the end of the year I strung a few games together and played some good footy.

How hard was it for you to struggle with consistency?

It was pretty hard. It was probably the first time that I’ve ever been through a form slump. I was working hard out on the track but things weren’t going my way, so it was just good to get back after injury and my first game back I only played a half, so I didn’t really have any expectations. Fortunately I found a bit of form that game.

Towards the end of the year the coaches were saying your form had really turned around, what areas do you think you improved on?

When I got back from injury I started playing a lot more through the midfield and started really enjoying that. The coaches’ directions were to just start playing with a bit of pace, so to get on and off and use the bench as much as I could. In the stoppages I just tried to play with pace and play to my strengths and use my skills, and towards the end of the year it started paying off, which was good.

Who has been your mentor this year?

Jarred Moore was my mentor and he was great, but also Adam Goodes. I catch up with him a fair bit and he is always helping me and giving me instructions and information on what to do.

What was it like being on the sidelines for the seniors finals series?

It was a great experience, but as a much as it was a great experience, I would have loved to be out there. To win the Grand Final was an amazing feeling and it was a great feeling to be down in Melbourne with the boys and to spend it with them. Hopefully next time I won’t have to be on the sidelines.

What areas do you hope to work on during pre-season?

I’ve just got to keep working on my fitness if I want to keep playing through the midfield. I had my meeting with the coaches and just the thing that came out of that was to just work on the fitness and if I can work on that then I’ll be playing senior footy next year.

What are your plans for the off-season?

I’ll be going away to Burma for 12 days with Jared Crouch and Alex Brown, so I thought that was a good thing to do because otherwise I’d be back in Yarram just sitting around. I thought it would be good for my footy.