Twelve months is a long time, especially in football, and no one knows that better than Sam Day.

The 23-year-old’s 2015 pre-season was derailed by a mystery illness that left him feeling flat, but that’s in stark contrast to now.

“I’ve managed to get through all the sessions before Christmas and my two ‘k’ time trial is coming down, which is my main focus area for the pre-season,” Day said.

The athletic South Australian knows his fitness will be a defining factor in 2016 if he’s to make his desired impact on-field and ultimately help lead his team up the premiership ladder.

“Endurance has always been an issue of mine so I’m working on losing a bit of body weight and extra kilos, as I think you’ll find a lot of people are at the moment.”

Less than six weeks out from the SUNS’ first NAB Challenge game against local rivals Brisbane, Day said it was great to have the majority of the playing list out on the field training at full capacity.

“I’m really happy with the way the program is being run and everyone is training really well, we just need to tweak a few things,” he said.

“JC’s [Elite Performance Director Justin Cordy] run a really good program and everything is pretty individualised so I think the better we can be as a running team, and have everyone know their role, it will be helpful as we go through the season.

“Everything is tracking along well to crack into a big season.”

After filling holes as required last season both down back and up forward, Day is thrilled at the prospect of securing his place as a key forward for the team in 2016.

READ: Dawning of a brand new Day

“I sat down with the coaches in my review last year, had a good chat to them and said I’d like to try and lock down a position,” he said.

“Obviously now with Charlie going I can really try and grab hold of that and make it mine.”