THE unmistakable red and white of the Sydney Swans was on display at Wayne Richards Park on Monday.
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Irish recruit Colin O'Riordan and youngster Zak Jones put junior players through their paces as they spread the Aussie rules word in the hope that one day the juniors will follow in their footsteps and run out on to the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Jones is currently recovering from injury while O'Riordan is still getting used to the temperature of an Australian summer with both players admitting pre-season training has been intense.
Jones said he had noticed a significant shift towards Aussie rules in playing numbers since his last visit to Port Macquarie two years ago.
"I came here two years ago and there's no doubt the game has grown in that time," he said.
"We're building the profile of the game and the best way to do that is through visits to regional areas and by encouraging younger kids to pick up a footy."
"It's just great to see so many of the kids here with their Swans jerseys on."
Jones was confident Dean Towers, Brandon Jack and Harry Marsh would have a promising season if their pre-season was any indication.
"They have all had unreal pre-seasons and they'll be firing for us," he said.
He expected Hawthorn and West Coast to again be two of the teams to beat although to challenge them the Swans needed to improve their efforts in front of goal.
"There's no doubt Hawthorn are the team to beat.
"They've been in the last three grand finals and are just an unreal footy team.
"West Coast and Fremantle won't be too far behind them either," he said.
"If there's one thing we can improve on it's definitely our scoring chances.
We don't have too many problems getting the ball into the forward line, but kicking goals was a bit of a problem.
"Fortunately that's pretty easy to fix."
The Swans will continue preparations for the upcoming season with an intra-club trial this weekend.
They then start their NAB Challenge season with a home clash against Port Adelaide on February 20 at Blacktown International Sports Park.
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