From stopping the competitions' most dangerous forwards to taking the Richards Report to the small screen, most things went right for Ted Richards in 2011.

Teddy talks to sydneyswans.com.au about what he considers to be the most consistent season in his career to date.

Is this the best season so far in your career?

I think so, it was definitely my most consistent year and that is always something I’m trying to achieve - more of the good games and less of the bad games.

At 28, that is some achievement, that you got better this year?

I read Tom Harley’s book and he talks about how he had his best year of football at 30 and it really got me thinking - who was to say I couldn’t have my best year of football at 28?

What else had to be put in place to have the season you had?

I looked at all the best full-backs in the competition and what makes them good, what makes them hard to play on, and they’ve all got similarities in that they are hard to beat, they’re strong, often they outmark their opponents and they read the ball well through the air.

So they are all things I tried to implement into my game this year.

Was there one game or a few that stood out as a personal highlight?

The feeling at the end of the game when we beat St Kilda in the Elimination Final in Melbourne. It was an incredible feeling afterwards. And of course the exact same feeling when we beat Geelong down at Kardinia Park. Just the fact that no-one rated us, going down there and it was everything that had happened with Jarrad McVeigh throughout the week, it was just a really special feeling.

Everyone talks about the character of the team - was that reinforced for you this year?

It was even stronger, just because with players like Brett Kirk, Craig Bolton, Jared Crouch, Leo Barry and Micky O’Loughlin all retiring, people questioned what was going to happen to the Bloods and what was going to happen to the team.

Through that, it gave opportunities to young players and they have totally embraced the Club. So it’s great to see that there are people coming up who may never have played with Kirky or these players, but they have a similar approach.

In the middle of 2010, you were playing in the reserves and didn’t know if you’d get another contract. Now you have another two years here. How does that feel?

I didn’t know if I’d be playing football this year. At some stages in 2010 I was looking at moving to Sweden! So not only am I still playing football, but I’ve had probably my most enjoyable year of football. It can be pretty tough playing full-back on good quality full forwards but I’ve really enjoyed the year.

Who stood out for you amongst your team-mates, who went to the next level?

I thought Sam Reid was sensational. The young players in general were great. I’ve worked closely with Alex Johnson since he got to the Club and his ability, at such a young age, to play the defensive role that he has this year, has been great.

And also Shane Mumford shouldering the ruck, often by himself this year. And a lot of the year he played injured. We knew what he was doing to get himself up for games, and the pain he went through. I’ve got a lot of respect for Shane.

Where does the group need to get better next year?

The big one for us is the skill and kicking efficiency. You look at the top four teams and how they can cut teams up, coming through the middle. It makes the job a whole lot easier if you don’t give the ball back to the opposition once you’ve got it.

We finished the season off better, but our goal kicking still needs to improve. If we can convert some of those ones which we missed, maybe a few more games would have gone our way.

What will you work on during the pre-season?

I’ll just keep working at my game. My best spot is centre half back, full-back, and the attributes you need for that are strength, you need to be able to play a full game, contested marking and I’ll also try to work on my kicking again.

It was a settled defensive unit, and you’ll all be around together for a couple more years at least, which must be promising?

People had quite a few questions marks over the Swans’ defence at the start of the year when Craig Bolton retired. But the back six were pretty tight all year, it was just unfortunate Reg (Heath Grundy) got sick at the end of the year because he’s such an asset.

Where are you adventuring in the off-season?

I’ve got a brother in Sweden and a sister in Paris so I’m catching up with them both. I’m travelling overseas with two of my best mates, Jobe Watson and David Hille (from Essendon) and we’ll also spend a bit of time in Eastern Europe.