Young Sydney Swans defender Lewis Melican is on a mission to be ready for Round 1 as he fights his way back from a string of injuries that derailed his 2018 campaign.

The 22-year-old enjoyed a breakout 2017 season culminating in the Swans’ Rising Star honour, but a series of hamstring injuries would limit him to just three senior matches in 2018.

Melican hasn’t laced up the boots for a senior game since Round 3, 2018 and hasn’t played a NEAFL match since Round 13, but the youngster is making rapid progress as he eyes off the Swans’ season-opening clash with the Western Bulldogs on March 23.

“I’m very determined to be ready for Round 1,” Melican told SwansTV.

“We’re all here to play footy. We all want to play as much of the season as we can, and after missing most of last year I want to be there for Round 1 and get in as many games as I can.

“I’m tracking well in my recovery. I had a few surgeries towards the end of the year to clean up those hamstring injuries and am back to almost full training.

“I’m doing three of the four drills on Mondays and Fridays and then a bit of my own stuff afterwards to top up my fitness, so it’s been good. I’ve definitely had to do a lot of work. A lot of it was just fitness strength for my hamstrings, so it wasn’t as much as the boys in the thick of full training, but getting that strength was just as tough for me.”

Melican is one of a host of up-and-coming Swans defenders, with Callum Mills, Zak Jones, Aliir Aliir, Colin O’Riordan and Ryley Stoddart just some of the backmen in the early days of their careers as the 2019 season draws near.

Melican made his AFL debut in Round 5, 2017 and finished the season with 17 senior matches beside his name.

The 2015 draftee kept former St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt to just 10 possessions and one goal to earn himself an AFL Rising Star nomination as the Swans trumped the Saints in Round 18.

He then helped Sydney to two wins from its first three matches of 2018, and he says the senior footy he’s played is hardening his armour on the road to Round 1.

“I’m definitely taking a lot of confidence from 2017 and even the first few games of last year,” Melican said.

“I felt like I had found my spot in the team and it was annoying that I was injured so much last year, but I’m confident in my ability that I should be able to win my spot back if I’m fit and healthy.”

Sam Reid, Sam Naismith and Callum Mills are taking big strides forward on the road to recovery themselves and, like Melican, they’ve underlined Round 1 as a genuine possibility.

But Melican took the opportunity after Wednesday’s training session to highlight the hard work of young guns Matt Ling and Joel Amartey, whose 2018 campaigns were also hampered by injury.

“Some of the younger boys, like Matt Ling and Joel Amartey, are making great progress,” Melican said.

“They were hardly running last year because of foot injuries, so to be seeing them back out on the track is great.

“Having so many numbers out on the track really lifts the boys.”