UPON reflection, Aidan Riley is pleased with how he went personally in 2014.

And so he should be. After all, he joined Melbourne from Adelaide, having suffered a serious leg fracture, which affected his pre-season and start to last year. But he still managed to play nine matches.

“I was definitely pleased with how I went last year. I wasn’t putting [any] expectations on my game last season and neither were the coaches – they were pretty good,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“I got back to playing footy and to play some senior footy was a bonus for me. It was probably frustrating not having as much impact as I would’ve liked, so I want to have a lot more impact on games.

“That’s why it’s important to have a big pre-season – to get some fitness in the tank and have confidence I can impact the game for four quarters. Hopefully that’ll set me up to play a few more senior games this year.

Now, Riley has set his sights on building on his first season with Melbourne.

“Although I was pleased [with] where I was last year, there is still a long way to go for me and I’m aware of that,” he said.

“That’s a positive because I know I didn’t have much of a pre-season last year and I still played some footy. Now having a pre-season, it puts me in a better position.”

Riley said he still has to be mindful of his leg, which has a plate in it and he concedes it aches at times.

“After a lot of running, it can get a bit worse, but the club is good at managing, particularly [fitness staff] Misso (Dave Misson) and Rigga (Alex Sakadjian). They talk to me and manage my sessions accordingly, so that’s been a positive,” he said.

“This time last year I was only getting back into the running, but to be back out with the main group this time around is pretty positive. I was frustrated having to go through rehab, with a bit of shin soreness.

“But it’s good to be out there and getting some fitness up to set me up for a good year.

Reflecting on the first week of the camp, Riley said it was “definitely up there” as one of the hardest pre-season camps he’s experienced.

“It’s been pretty demanding and challenging,” he said.

“The weather has certainly taken its toll on a few of the sessions and everyone is pushing themselves to the max, but being up here in the heat adds another element, which we haven’t been used to, but everyone is pushing through.”

“I’ve been on a few [pre-season camps] over the years and this is definitely one of the most challenging in terms of the heat and just the training we’re doing – we’re backing up sessions and doing a lot of kilometres, so it’s been very demanding, but everyone’s coming through together.”

He added that the game plan was really being “nutted out on the camp”.

“We’ve identified things that we can work on from last season,” he said.

Riley said he had also enjoyed having his former Adelaide captain Simon Goodwin join the club in another capacity.

“My first year at Adelaide, Simon was skipper. It’s funny I asked him the other day what his perception of me was, when I first got to the club,” he said.

“He said ‘you were that little chubby kid weren’t you?’ I said ‘yeah, that was me’. It’s good that we’ve got that relationship with him and now he’s the midfield coach [with Ben Mathews] and him and Benny are doing a really good job.

“They’re talking to all of the players and making sure we’re comfortable with the structures.”