INJURY PREPARED NEW SWAN TO LEAD

SOUTH Barwon recruit Josh Saunders says he hopes to bring strong leadership and a new perspective to playing when he starts work with the Swans later this month.

Saunders, who played 22 games for St Kilda between 2013 and 2015, has spent the past two years with South Warrnambool in the Hampden Football League, missing most of the 2017 season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

While the injury left him sidelined for an extended period, Saunders says it also gave him time to develop some leadership skills, which he was keen to put to good use at his new club.

“The first year (at South Warrnambool) I played four games and then did my ACL so I probably took a step back, which is a bit different for me,” Saunders said.

“But I was able to look at the game from a different perspective on the sidelines.

“It was frustrating at times but I was sort of looking at it and trying to think ‘when you are playing how can you help the boys when you are out there?’.

“It is obviously a different view from there and you can get a bit more knowledge of how everything goes.

“They had a lot of young players down there as well, so for me it was about taking a few under my wing and trying to develop them as players.

“It was a newer role for me in terms of leadership having come from a higher level and being down a bit lower, but it was exciting to help the young guys out at the club.”

Saunders has not spoken to South Barwon coach David Farrell about the specifics of what his on-field role will look like, but he is likely to share his time between the midfield and forward line.

The 24-year-old said despite interest from elsewhere he was determined to get to the Swans to play at the highest level he could.

“I was coming down to Geelong from Warrnambool and I spoke to a few clubs but I already had some ties at South Barwon so it made it a pretty smooth transition,” Saunders said.

“I hadn’t been following the GFL for the last couple of years but I had a catch up with a few of the boys last Friday and they are all excited to get into it. “A few of them probably didn’t think they were going to make finals (in 2018) but they did a really good job so with a few good sign-ons and if we get a good pre-season hopefully we can go again.”

South Barwon starts its preseason training campaign on Monday, November 26.