Mark Baguley says time on the sidelines throughout 2016 has freshened him up as he prepares for the upcoming season.

A knee problem restricted the hard-nosed defender to ten games in 2016.

The former Frankston VFL player had played 63 in his previous three years. 

“It has freshened me up mentally, I was really excited to get back to training having missed a lot of footy,” Baguley said.

“It’s probably the first time in my career that I’ve missed that much footy, so I’m looking forward to this season.

“Hopefully I can get a good pre-season in and start the season well.

“The body is going well, I did a fair bit of running during the off-season, stuck to my program and I haven’t missed a session so far.”

Baguley’s return to fitness and the availability of All-Australian defender Michael Hurley will enhance the Dons backline depth.

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Michael Hartley now have a season under their belt, Patrick Ambrose and Mitch Brown have shown promise in defence, James Kelly is back and the Dons first two picks from the National Draft are training under Mark Harvey’s watch.

“I missed a lot of footy in the back half of the season so I watched a lot of footy and it was good to see the younger guys improve and get a few wins later in the season,” Baguley said.

“We’ve got a lot of depth down there this year, good senior players, James Kelly has re-signed … the younger draftees look like they’re going to play in defence – (Andrew) McGrath has looked really good on the track and Jordan (Ridley) as well.” 

Baguley said McGrath is already living up to his top billing.

“He’s the number one draft pick for a reason, he’s talented in every area of the game, he looks really classy with the ball and he’s only going to get better and better as he trains more with the main group.”