When the bag of balls was busted open on the first day of pre-season training, Ben Ronke had his hands on a footy in a flash.

Although countless kilometres of running have, as is commonplace, dominated the first two weeks of the Sydney Swans’ pre-season grind, the balls haven’t been forgotten.

Ronke has spent most of the pre-season sweat tearing around the boundary and gasping for air, but the lively small forward hasn’t let that stop him from fine-tuning his kicking in the pocket.

“I’m really happy that the balls are out so early,” Ronke told SwansTV.

“It’s good to get a large emphasis on the skills component in really early. It allows the boys to really build on that aspect of the game in the beginning stages of the pre-season.”

Few players in the history of the game have produced the forward-pocket heroics of Sydney’s forwards coach, former Cat and Giant Steve Johnson.

The triple premiership hero booted 516 goals in a sparkling 293-match career and has led the way for Sydney’s forwards since joining the club’s coaching panel ahead of season 2018.

“It’s good to be building off his knowledge,” Ronke said.

“He obviously knows a bit about kicking snaps and bananas, so it’s good to be getting a bit of time with him when the numbers are reduced.”

Ronke announced himself to the footy world when he jagged seven goals in his third senior match at the MCG in Round 8, 2018.

The Calder Cannons product bagged 24 goals in 18 games in 2018, before adding nine majors from 13 matches this year.

He believes 2020 shapes as an exciting year for the young team.

“We’ve got a really good opportunity with the young group we have to start making a mark on the competition next year,” Ronke said.

“I’m really looking forward to the year ahead.”