Reed van Huisstede had been living predominately in Sydney, training alongside the Swans' big guns and felt "in shape" for a "big year".
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Then coronavirus brought his life and sporting ambitions to a grinding halt.
Now the Newcastle City product is back home at Merewether, training as best he can with COVID-19 restrictions and hoping "to get back on the field at some stage" in 2020.
Van Huisstede is one of many Australian rules players waiting for the AFL to announce details of a season restart, which will have a flow on effect for his NEAFL competition and eventually local campaigns such as the AFL Hunter Central Coast's Black Diamond Cup.
The 19-year-old knows the global pandemic has struck at a pivotal time in his career, but wants to ride out the forced break and keep trying to make the grade.
"It's not ideal," van Huisstede told the Newcastle Herald.
"The longer it [the break] goes the harder it is to get back to where you were.
"You've just got to keep the training up and hope we get back on the field at some stage. I'm itching to get back out there.
"It's a big year for me and hopefully something can come out of it."
Van Huisstede, best on ground in the 2018 Black Diamond Cup premiership decider, was promoted by the Swans last year moving from under 18s to reserves and featuring in a NEAFL finals campaign.
He was then one of 10 players picked in the club's NEAFL development squad.
Training started in December and he'd been staying with a host family in Roseville, located around 13 kilometres from the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Pre-season sessions involved games with some of the Swans' stars, including Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and fellow Novocastrian Isaac Heeney.
"It was the best pre-season I'd ever had. Really hard, but I got a lot out of it," he said. "I was in shape and felt ready to go so it was a bit of a shame everything stopped."
Van Huisstede has been training at various locations such as Townson Oval, Alder Park and Glenrock since mid March. He hopes to rejoin small groups next month.
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