World class reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles has spent a fortnight at Sydney Swans HQ working with four players to build physical resilience, focus on injury prevention and to ready them for the 2026 AFL season

Joel Amartey, Tom Papley, Will Edwards and Logan McDonald trained with Knowles on a range of exercises, ranging from aquatic work to core strength and ankle balance.

“It’s about getting really good engagement with the athletes. If I can make them better athletes off the pitch, there’s a chance we increase their capacity to express themselves on the competition field,” Knowles said.

“We do gym movements, preparation movements that are going to look like the field-based session. So, they did some of their running mechanics on the gymnastics floor, while we had other guys working on their hip height, and then we transfer that to grass.

“Not all professional athletes are professional runners; they’re professional footy players. If we can change their running mechanics a little, and you can make it a bit more efficient, it transfers to performance.”

Most of Knowles’ work over the two-week period was to prepare the players for the physicality of playing games, which starts indoors before the athletes even get a ball in their hands.

Knowles was working in conjunction with the Sydney Swans’ Head of Physiotherapy and Medical Services, Damian Raper.

“Bill is really well renowned within the industry. As soon as we jumped on the phone with Bill I could tell straight away how passionate he was. He was really keen to come over here and spend some time with our athletes and help us,” Raper said.

Swans forward Tom Papley said he benefitted from the aquatic sessions in particular.

“The pool was great. It was about more awareness to recover in different ways as well. To be able to use some weights and get into some positions. You definitely felt your core over a good hour session,” Papley said.

“It’s been rewarding. When someone is world renowned for their rehab stuff it’s kicked me into gear a little bit. To be able to get some exercise and get to work on that strength on my knee and ankle it’s been rewarding for sure.”

Key forward, Logan McDonald, who failed to play a senior game in 2025 due to injury, said he also loved the experience.

“This two-week block is going to give me a lot of confidence, especially around my ankle,” McDonald said.

“I’m going to be in the best possible shape and to build that resilience before the start of pre-season. I’ve been very sore especially around my glutes and hips… but he doesn’t try to push you too hard, it’s about getting your body in the right positions to build resilience in those areas, and for me it’s my ankle.”