Sam Switkowski is hopeful something special is building at Fremantle with the small forward impressed by the contributions of the new faces at the club.

The 22-year-old, who joined Fremantle as a mature aged recruit ahead of the 2018 season, is one of 32 players who have joined the club in the past three years.

Team-unity has been a focus for Fremantle this pre-season, with the playing group benefitting from a week-long training camp on the Gold Coast in December.

“With the new players coming in, there’s a really good culture building and the sessions are really ramping up,” Switkowski said. 

“Everyone’s trying to impress and show what they can do, but at the same time, we’re looking to gel as a team. We have a lot of new players in so we’re working on building that chemistry and enjoy it.

“The match simulations we have had have been really enjoyable. We’ve tweaked the game plan a little bit and it’s really coming together nicely, which is good.”

Switkowski, who made his debut in round 21 of the 2018 season, is hopeful he will be able to hit the ground running in 2019. 

“My pre-season has been a lot better than last year as I wasn’t out there much (in 2018),” Switkowski said.

“It’s having that conditioning for the body, spending more time with the group on the track, improving my skills, so it’s been invaluable.

“It was also really handy to play those two games in 2018, just to get a feel for the tempo of the AFL and what’s required at that level. 

“It means I’ve really been able to try and keep that tempo up over pre-season and train at that level. It’s given me good preparation coming into the year.”