Much of the focus this pre-season has centred on the abundance of new faces at West Lakes seeking an opportunity, but second-year Crow Jarryd Lyons is hopeful 2012 will also be the launching pad for his AFL career. 

Taken with pick No.61 in the 2010 AFL Draft, Lyons spent his first season at Adelaide developing his game with SANFL club Glenelg.

The 19-year-old onballer quickly established himself at the Bays, being selected to make his league debut in round two and playing 12 senior matches.

Lyons enjoyed a purple patch of form in the middle part of the year, but started to feel the effects of a long first season towards the end of the minor round and was left out of Glenelg’s losing semi-final team.

“In the second half of the season I played some really good footy, but with a few rounds to play my body started to crumble just with the workload of such a big year,” Lyons told afc.com.au.

“I fell away a little bit … but all up it was a pretty successful first season.

“The Crows development coaches were pretty happy with my year, playing a lot of games in the seniors at Glenelg.

“Hopefully, another pre-season will make me fitter and stronger, so I’ll be able to get through a full season this year and then go that next step and play a couple of games with the Crows.”

Lyons, who is training with the midfield/forward group, has added 2.5kg of muscle mass in the gym since the start of pre-season training and has also impressed on the track with his clean hands and clearance work.

“I’ve already found I’ve put on more weight this pre-season than I did last pre-season and that will be a bonus if I want to play in the midfield at AFL level,” Lyons said.

“Last season has really motivated me to try and get through the whole pre-season.

“I want to do whatever I can to play some games early in the year instead of having to wait until the end of the season to push for [AFL] selection.

“It’s very competitive on the track at the moment probably more so than last year because of the number of people coming in and going out of the squad and the amount of spots up for grabs.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what the team looks like in round one.”

Drafted from the Dandenong Stingrays in Victoria, Lyons was placed with a host family last year but recently moved in with ex-Sydney Swans recruit Lewis Johnston.

The avid golfer, who plays off a handicap of 10, said he’d settled into life in Adelaide.

“I was with my host family for over a year and absolutely loved it,” he said.

“I couldn’t have asked for much more in terms of the way they helped me to settle in but it was time to move out, so I’m in with Lewis now.

“Lewis is a bit of a laugh, so I think we’ll have some fun.”

Also a promising junior cricketer, Lyons - nicknamed ‘Gaz’ after ex-Melbourne forward and media personality Garry Lyon - comes with a good sporting pedigree.

His father Marty played 27 VFL games for the Demons between 1975-77, bagging four goals on debut.

His 13-year-old brother Corey is a talented footballer and cricketer, while his younger sister Hayley is heavily involved in netball.