LIFE as a Hawk for James Frawley has officially begun.

The Hawthorn recruit joined some of his new teammates for the first day of pre-season training on Monday morning, as the players with 1-4 years experience returned.

Frawley, 26, joined in the 90-minute skills and running session at the Ricoh Centre as he gets a jump on the pre-season, two weeks before the full list returns.

It was a good opportunity to blow out some of the cobwebs, he said, after a long off-season having not qualified for the finals with Melbourne.

“I’m a bit stuffed but it was good to get out there with the boys and have a kick around and do some running,” he told hawthornfc.com.au after the session.

“It was great to have a kick with people rather than with yourself and having to run and get it and kick it again.”

Frawley joined the Hawks as an unrestricted free agent in October, ending a year of speculation about his future.

In his first interview since committing to Hawthorn, the former Demon admitted the innuendo surrounding his contract took its toll and a break was needed to clear his mind.

That rest came in the form of a holiday to Bali before returning to Victoria, where he headed back home to Ballarat to spend time with family.

It was a valuable break for him, with a month to get used to the idea of now being a Hawthorn player before returning for pre-season training and hopefully, a big 2015.

“I’m feeling good,” he said.

“I went to Bali and then back to Ballarat to visit my family and friends so I just took it easy for a while.

“Now I’m back into training, feeling refreshed and ready to go for another pre-season.”

Other than ensuring he’s in good physical condition to complete what his new fitness staff and coaches ask, one of Frawley’s objectives is to get to know his new teammates.

During his first session on Monday, the defender trained for much of it alongside fellow backline player Angus Litherland, who made his senior debut in 2014 and was named Hawthorn’s best first year player by the coaches.

“He’s a good country boy who works hard,” Frawley said of Litherland.

“In the running he was pushing me all the way.”


Angus Litherland shows James Frawley the ropes during Monday's training session.

While he’s played 139 career games since making his AFL debut in Round 9 2007, Frawley hasn’t yet looked too far beyond the pre-season.

Instead, he’s focused now on training hard and impressing his new teammates and coaches.

“I’ll probably sit down with the coaches soon and set out a few goals,” he said.

“Given it’s only the first day of pre-season I haven’t set anything in stone just yet but down the track we’ll nail some aspirations down for the year.”