After spending his off-season refining his running style, improving his defending and engrossing himself in complicated tactics, Hayden Ballantyne feels ready to have a big impact in Fremantle's midfield.
Ballantyne has spent the vast majority of his three-year AFL career as a small forward but Ross Lyon signalled his intentions to shift the 24-year-old into the midfield soon after taking over as coach.
The result of that decision was a heavy pre-season for Ballantyne, who has spent the summer working closely with new stoppages coach Mark Stone to develop an understanding on the finer points of midfield play.
He also has developed a new running style designed to prevent the hamstring injuries which have plagued his 44-game career and feels he is fitter than he has ever been.
Ballantyne said all of that had made him confident of being able to crack a spot in the Dockers' midfield.
"All my pre-season training has been around the midfield area. I'll still play forward but hopefully I'll get a bit more midfield time this year," he said.
"Now that the fitness base is up and I've done a good pre-season, hopefully I'll get the chance."
"Getting my head around the centre bounce structures has been the hardest thing for me. It's pretty technical compared to playing down in the forward line and just running amuck."
"I'm learning there's a big defensive side to the midfield as well ... I've been watching a lot of clips on good players and seeing how they go about it."
Ballantyne is expected to play through the centre when Fremantle's NAB Cup campaign starts on February 19 against Essendon and West Coast, but he won't be joined by David Mundy.
Mundy, who only played one match after injuring his ankle midway through the 2011 season, has had two surgeries to repair the issue.
Stone said the clearance specialist is unlikely to play in the NAB Cup but the club is "optimistic" he will be ready for their round one match against Geelong.
"We were hoping to get him going by the end of January but his recovery has been slower than expected," Stone told Perth radio station SportFM.
Young gun Nat Fyfe also had off-season surgery but Stone said the club was delighted with his progress, while the assistant coach said Anthony Morabito was improving after his knee reconstruction in late 2010.
"In the last couple of weeks we've seen some really positive signs. He's due to join the group next week," he said.