Nick Malceski had a rough year. After recovering from a knee reconstruction in 2008, he expected to bounce back to his best form. It didn’t happen and he played just 12 games in the seniors.

Here Malceski tells sydneyswans.com.au what went wrong, and how he is attacking this pre-season like it’s his last.

It has been the toughest pre-season in eight years for me but I’m actually enjoying it much more than I did last year.

I think I fell in a bit of a hole last season but now I am really upbeat, and Rhyce Shaw has really helped me out in that area.

In the off-season, during our break from the club, he was pulling me along at 7am every morning to go for runs. It really does help when you have someone to run with you, and especially because Rhyce is fitter than me and it just helped me work harder.

When you’re running by yourself you think you’re going alright but you fall into the trap of staying within yourself, but Rhyce really pushed me. We ran at Centennial Park and we always try to do as much as we can together. We also sat down and had a chat and he told me to set myself goals. He has been fantastic.

During the season I just couldn’t put it together and couldn’t get into good form. It was frustrating more than anything.

After doing my knee and playing 12 games in 2008, I thought my form was just going to come to me. That is where I fell in a trap.

I thought I was doing everything right but now I realise I needed to work a lot harder than what I did.

At the end of the 2009 season I sat down and reviewed every year that I’ve been here, what I achieved and what I wanted to get out of each year.  Last year was a nothing year for me and it was a waste.

So now I am fully focused on this pre-season and ready to get back to playing even better than I did in 2007. I’ve tried to start fresh, as if I was a new draftee, and I’ve just taken the attitude that this could be my last year.

I’ve really attacked the pre-season and I’m going to do the same all through  next season as well.

I owe it to the coaches and to my team-mates, to get my respect back. I’m trying to make an impression and I’m working hard to get there.