After five seasons and 63 matches - which were plagued by injury at times - Bird finally has a full pre-season behind him and the results are paying off on the field.
Last weekend, in the inaugural Sydney Derby, Bird was one of the best on the field, collecting a career-high 27 disposals, eight marks and two goals.
Bird’s hoping his new fitness base and extra time spent running laps on the training track will help him cement a spot in the Swans’ midfield this season.
“The thing holding me back in previous years was my fitness so I think I’ve taken that to another level and obviously other areas I’ve worked on playing through the midfield,” Bird said.
“I think I’m probably the fittest I’ve ever been throughout my whole career. It was good to finally get a full pre-season as last year was hampered by injury.
“I’d love to get a starting spot in the midfield but I’m really just happy to play any role the coaches want me to play.”
The Swans trained on the SCG for the first time this year today after spending the summer months training across the road on Lakeside Oval.
With four wins from eight matches at the SCG last season, Bird said he hopes the Swans can turn the ground back into a place opposition teams fear travelling to.
“It’s great to be back [at the SCG]. We’ve been out on Lakeside the whole pre-season so the boys love coming back to the SCG … it’s good to be back out here for training,” Bird said.
“Last year we dropped a few games here [at the SCG] and the years before that it was a bit of a fortress for us, we didn’t really seem to drop too many games.
“Hopefully this year we can get back to creating the SCG a fortress and not losing any home games here which should be great.
“It all starts next week against Fremantle.”
The Swans face Fremantle on Saturday, April 7 at the SCG in the first home match for the year.
Bird said the Dockers are a side on the up and the Swans must be at their best to win.
“Fremantle is another step up for us, they’ve got a very talented team and a lot of good players through there so I think we’re going to have to take our games to another level if we want to be competitive and get a win against Fremantle,” he said.
“Last year was disappointing when we played them here [at the SCG] so we obviously didn’t play too well but hopefully we can turn that around this year.
“They’ve got a new coach, under Ross Lyon, so they might try a few different things … so they’ll be tough opposition and we’re going to have to be really on our game.”
Experience the passion when the Sydney Swans play their first home match of the 2012 Premiership Season at the Sydney Cricket Ground against Fremantle on Saturday April 7 from 2pm.
Tickets are available from just $25 for an adult, or $53.50 for a family of four. Get yours today.
