Few players show the rigours of pre-season more than Swans defender Heath Grundy.

After grimacing his way through last pre-season, a gallery of photos showing the strain on the 25-year old’s face became a popular series at the club.

To avoid a repeat performance this pre-season, Grundy joked that he will go to extra lengths to hide his ‘Reg faces’ from our prying cameras.

“Last year I pulled some rippers,” he told SwansTV this afternoon.

“Hopefully this year I can just work on my facials and tone it down a little bit and just pull in behind a few blokes so the (camera) can’t get me.

“I’m not too sure (how the faces come about). Either I’m not fit enough and I’m trying too hard, or I don’t know, maybe I’m just an ugly bloke.”

Click on the video above to see some of Reg's best faces.

The fact Grundy has the opportunity to pull his famed faces out on the training track is a plus for the centre-half back, after he missed the 2011 finals series with glandular fever.

He said he was surprised with the condition he returned to pre-season training in and is now fully focused on building on that fitness base and improving in 2012.

“After missing the last few games of last year, I wanted to come back and try and be as fit as I could,” Grundy said.

“I didn’t think I would be in as good a shape as I was (when coming back from the off-season).

“I’m running quite well and if I can stay injury free it puts me in good stead for the season and can give me a bit of confidence.”

With Tony Armstrong, Alex Brown, Jordan Lockyer and Tommy Walsh all coming to the club with defensive experience, Grundy, a key figure in the Swans back-six, said he welcomes the extra competition for spots in the 2012 backline

“The back six was pretty settled last year, but to have some new faces around always puts pressure on the older guys to perform each week, which is a good thing,” he said.

Grundy and the rest of the Swans playing group will be back on in training tomorrow morning for a skills session, before hitting the gym for stability and weights.

The players will wrap up their day with school and community visits across metropolitan Sydney, Wagga Wagga, Coffs Harbour and Illawarra as part of the Team SWANS Community Program - with full details available here.