The Swans’ new boys, Tommy Walsh, Tony Armstrong and Mitch Morton, will officially become part of the team tomorrow when they hit the track in Sydney for pre-season training.
The three players who were recruited during trade week, as well as the Swans’ young players (1-3 years in the AFL system) will begin the path to the 2012 season with a gruelling 3 km time trial.
They’ll get started early tomorrow at Centennial Park, and will literally hit the ground running.
The first port of call for the returning players, including Sam Reid, Dan Hannebery, Alex Johnson, Luke Parker and Gary Rohan, is a race against the clock over the testing 3 km distance.
The players will then get the footballs out and get into a short skills session before heading to the beach for a recovery session.
There will be some talent on the 3km running track tomorrow, with some of the Club’s best endurance runners in action.
The three players who topped the club time trial test last January will all be running - rookie Eugene Kruger, Hannebery and Nathan Gordon.
In that January trial, Kruger outlasted a late challenge from Hannebery, with Gordon - who last month was elevated to the Swans’ senior list - coming in just behind in third place.
While tomorrow’s 16-man group may be young in age, they combined for a total of 130 senior games during the 2011 season, with the quartet of Hannebery, Reid, Lewis Jetta and Johnson leading the way with over 20 appearances each.
The returning group will also showcase fan favourites Parker and Rohan, as well as a number of players keen to put frustrating 2011 seasons behind them, including Mike Pyke, Trent Dennis-Lane and Jed Lamb.
The start of pre-season will present new players Walsh, Armstrong and Morton with the chance to settle into their new surrounds after a whirlwind past month, especially for Walsh who has just returned from international duty with the Irish International Rules team.
Players with four to seven years AFL experience will return to the club for pre-season next Thursday, November 17, while the remainder of the playing group, those with over eight years of experience, will return a week later on the 24th.
Make sure you visit sydneyswans.com.au and our Official Facebook and Twitter pages tomorrow and throughout the pre-season for all the best action and reports from out on the track.
The players returning tomorrow are: Trent Dennis-Lane, Nathan Gordon, Dan Hannebery, Campbell Heath, Lewis Jetta, Alex Johnson, Eugene Kruger, Jed Lamb, Dylan McNeil, Luke Parker, Mike Pyke, Sam Reid, Gary Rohan, Tony Armstrong, Mitch Morton, Tommy Walsh
