The 21-year-old was an emergency for North's side selected to play Melbourne, however, foot stress fractures for draftee Liam Anthony paved the way for his inclusion.
Dropped to the VFL after playing the first three rounds of last season, Swallow injured his ankle when representing North Ballarat and struggled to recapture form needed for a recall.
"I was pretty disappointed last year," Swallow said from Arden Street on Tuesday morning. "I always thought I could play at this level. I was just waiting for that opportunity to come around.
"It almost felt like I was playing my first game again on the weekend. It had been a while and you get the nerves back.
"That's all done now and now I'm just looking forward to trying to keep my spot in the team and play my role each week."
Against the Demons, Swallow was North's most important player at the clearances. Nine of his 21 possessions were contested and he showed signs of his breakout 2007 season.
That year he played each of North's 25 games – including its three finals – and worked in tandem with Daniel Harris, who was kept out of the weekend's line-up despite being the side's best contested ball-winner.
"Harro did really well on the weekend. He had about 30 possessions playing for Werribee," Swallow said.
"He was pretty close to getting a game. There are probably 30 guys at the moment who deserve a spot but there are only 22 spots available.
"The pressure on each place makes us perform each week so if we can have [every player] playing well, it's going to be better for us in the long term."
Coaches and teammates identified Swallow as one of the squad's best performers over the pre-season.
Under the guidance of new assistant coach Anthony Rock, the West Australian increased his fitness base and strength with an aim to spend the majority of this year at the elite level.
"Anthony's been really trying to impress upon us to work more on our body work and positioning around the stoppages, our spread, getting out of the stoppages and getting a bit more outside footy," he said.
However, summer development was most obvious in small forwards Matt Campbell and Lindsay Thomas, who should be given more midfield opportunities this season.
"A lot of it goes back to [strength and conditioning coach] Paul Turk and the fitness program he's introduced," Swallow said.
"If we can keep building up those guys and keep increasing their fitness and their strength, it's going to be better for our game."
