Before the pre-season began he had already recovered from a series of injuries that made it near-impossible for him to reach top speed during 2012.  
 
A desire not to let his teammates down saw him play through those injuries, but it led many to wonder whether his running ability had deserted him.
 
Frawley accepts that, but you won't hear him using injuries as an excuse - he is from the 'once you cross the line you are 100 per cent fit' school of thought.
 
He has also accepted the lessons to be learned after bad decisions led to him being photographed with a group drinking at the Boxing Day test match.
 
While the incident was never a major issue in real terms it wasn't the sort of look any professional athlete would be comfortable with, particularly one in the leadership group of a young, developing team.
 
"It was pretty embarrassing and I had my head down for a few weeks after that, trying to stay low," Frawley said.
 
Whether it was fair or not for the group to be portrayed in such a light was not up for debate, the question to consider was what could be taken from the experience.
 
"We had a good chat about what we learned about it and what we would do better," Frawley said.

"It's OK to have a beer now and again but you need to do it in the right place at the right time, and it wasn't the right time and it wasn't the right place to be honest."
 
With all that behind him, plus a successful FebFast, a dose of plastic surgery for a cut above his eye and now an unfortunately timed illness, Frawley is impatient to get going and see how much progress the team has made relative to opposition sides.
 
He knows the club has changed with the focus now strongly set on doing the little things right all the time, and happily admits that this pre-season has been better than the first under Mark Neeld and David Misson.
 
The team runs quicker time trials and lifts bigger weights, but he thinks half a dozen words are necessary to provide perspective.
 
"[It] doesn't help you find the footy," Frawley said.
 
But he knows, in his words, that "everyone is having a crack".
 

Frawley is not a big ranter and raver - he keeps the game and his presence within it uncomplicated.
 
Some of his self deprecating lines are drier than the clothes hanging off a hills hoist in a northerly wind and you get the sense his character is as solid as bluestone.
 
Mates, contests, victories and experiences seem to be what he wants out of football rather than television exposure and back page stories.
 
He is a key part of a defensive group that is both tight and in a fight for spots, and says the addition of Lynden Dunn to the backline has been great and helps fill the void left by Jared Rivers' departure.

Dunn might also be able to free up Frawley occasionally.
 
"His [Dunn's] game has gone to another level. You can tell his confidence has gone through the roof.

"He is a good kick and he sets us up really well and he's weighing in pretty heavy these days. If he can take the gorillas every now and again and I can have a bit of a run off it would be nice," Frawley said.
 
Getting back that run and carry is one of Frawley's objectives this year.

He could not accelerate last season but he knows defenders are much more effective when they rebound hard and fast and make the opposition forwards worry about them a little.
 
Frawley says the group has also drawn confidence from the assessment of newly arrived premiership players, former Cat Shannon Byrnes and Collingwood's Chris Dawes.
 
"They said there is not much difference in the training regime and how hard [we] work, which is pretty surprising seeing the difference in the ladder positions," Frawley said.
 
However, he says they have already taught the young players plenty while providing an insight into club dynamics that justifies the Demons' recruiting philosophy in one paragraph.
 
"You get the point from 'Neeldy', but when a player comes in it just sinks in a lot quicker and you think 'they have won a premiership, both of them, so I'll listen to them'," Frawley said.  
 
Frawley admits the Demons still have patches that cost them games – again on Saturday it was a third quarter lapse albeit playing just four players off the bench that cost them – but that they are working hard to stop the opposition from getting momentum.
 
The obvious remedies such as creating a secondary stoppage, laying a big tackle, getting numbers to the ball, pushing it to the boundary and making the game a bit of a scrap are in their minds.
 
Frawley also sees that good sides have leaders who stand up in such moments and you get the feeling he wants to be that sort of player.
 
Most imagine he has got the talent and with his body now right, Frawley has every reason to be keen to get going.
 
"The more experience we get the better we get at it," he surmises with a keen anticipation for 2013.

James Frawley is a defender in NAB AFL Fantasy. He averaged 63.8 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub.

Peter Ryan is a reporter for AFL Media.