Fast forward one year and the 19-year-old has been elevated onto the senior list and is now being developed as a lock-down defender able to use his pace off the half-back line.
While the positional change was unexpected for the boy from Wagga Wagga who played almost all of his junior football at the other end of the ground, Cunningham told sydneyswans.com.au he was enjoying his newest on-field challenge.
“Last year I played more as an attacking midfielder or forward, but over the pre-season I worked pretty hard on my defence so I could become a Rhyce Shaw-type defender who could lock down or who can play as a running defender,” Cunningham said.
“It’s not really somewhere I’ve played before, but that’s where the coaches see me as a player, so I’m happy to do it.
“I see that there are opportunities that can come up in that area and if I work hard at it I think I can become one of those types of players.
“I’m really looking forward to continuing to work hard in that area and it can only benefit my game.”
Cunningham began the 2013 season in terrific form, and was listed in the Swans reserves’ best in his first two matches of the season before injury stuck in the team’s round 4 clash with Tuggeranong, when the he landed awkwardly on his knee in the second quarter.
The injury could not have come at a worse time for the Cunningham, who was working towards earning his second senior game with the Swans after making his debut in round one last season.
“I think any injury you get frustrated, but there were definitely spots open (in the senior team),” he said.
“I was happy that there were a couple of new blokes who took those opportunities and got the game.
“At the end of the day, the opportunity doesn’t come unless you’re in form so saying that I would have needed to be in form to get a game, so injured or not, anything could have happened and I can’t dwell on that.
Since returning from injury, Cunningham has re-evaluated his goals for this season, and is now focused on regaining full fitness after over a month on the sidelines.
The player said he has been working closely with senior mentor Ben McGlynn, who has helped him to stay on track throughout his recovery.
“He’s definitely a really good mentor to have and we catch up regularly just to talk about what’s going on and just how everything has been so far,” Cunningham said.
“We’ve set a couple of goals for me which we set at the start of the year, and then we reassessed them, so he’s a really good mentor to have just to talk about life in general as well as footy.”
“The other players also like to push me and they push me to get that game and it’s bringing out the best in me with leadership in the development group as well as pushing hard for a spot in the senior team.”
