Midfielder Stefan Giro set the bar high when it came to elite running in his debut AFL season and he is set to improve even further following a personal best in Fremantle’s 2km time trial at Victor George Kailis Oval on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old ran out the winner of the 2km dash between the club’s first to fourth-year players, coming in ahead of runner-up Andrew Brayshaw with Ethan Hughes, Griffin Logue and Sam Switkowski rounding out the top five.
Giro said he was pleased to improve on his time after placing second behind Tommy Sheridan in a time trial following the Christmas break in early 2018.
“It’s good to get it out of the way, it was pretty nerve wracking at the start and it’s good to get back into it,” Giro said.
“I’ve improved and got a personal best which was nice as well. It’s a nice reward to have.”
Giro said the time trial is used as an indicator of each players’ fitness heading into the pre-season.
“It’s to see how you’ve gone over the off-season, to see if you’ve done the work assigned to you,” Giro said.
“Everyone wants to aim to get their best time but if you don’t you can always aim to get it after Christmas, so that’s the aim for everyone.”
Wednesday’s training session marked the third day of pre-season for the group and Giro said he’s enjoyed getting back together with his teammates.
“Everyone’s excited to see each other,” Giro said.
“I’ve missed a few of the boys but everyone’s getting along really well. It’s been really good.”
While a good time trial ticks an important box for Giro, he said he work is far from done with the aim of building on his 71kg frame.
“For me, my goal is to improve on my strength and my general footy. To keep training and get the load in,” Giro said.
