In his second year at the Sydney Swans, Lewis Jetta admits things didn't always go to plan in an up and down season.

Jetta played 20 of the 24 games for the year, but found himself in the grandstands as an emergency for the Swans two finals appearances.

Juggling fatherhood and a career in the AFL, Jetta told sydneyswans.com.au about where he plans to improve in 2012 and get back to the form he showed in his debut season.

How do you assess your season?

My season was up and down. There were some games where I played good, and some games where I wasn’t as good. It’s hard to know why but some weekends I would feel ready to go out there and then I was sometimes sub. And then I might get a full game and not feel so good.

I did enjoy the year though. I settled down. Last year I was still a bit worried about home (WA) but it has been good having Jess and baby here in Sydney. It has been an interesting year.

Was it a challenge, being your second year, and having baby Lewis?

It was a challenging year, becoming a dad at a young age. This year was about trying to find a good balance between fatherhood and being a professional athlete. It wasn’t until late in the season that we started teaching baby sleeping routines, and it started working really well. That was a bit of the reason.

Do you think it was a good season for the team overall?

We were quiet at the start of the year and kicked into gear and came home strong at the end towards the end of the season which was what we needed leading into finals.
Where can you get better in 2012?

I want to trim down and try to get lighter and faster. I want to get some running coaching to help me get faster. Dylan McNeil has been getting coaching from Matt Shirvington and he says it has made him faster off the mark so I’ll look into it. I’m going to come back for pre-season lighter and ready to run. I don’t want to get beaten by any of the coaches in the 3km race this time! It’s not going to happen.

What are you doing in the break?

I’m going back to WA. We’re just going to hang out as a family and go to the beach, do a bit of camping and some hunting, get some kangaroos. I have to be back on November 10. I love being here in Sydney at the Swans.