That's the situation for South Warrnambool's Tim Ryan, at least in a footballing sense.

The 27-year-old's return to the Roosters' forward line has been five years in the making. He played five games in 2019 - two in the seniors and three in reserves - but focused his sporting energy more towards cricket with Russells Creek.

With a solid body of form as reserves forward - Ryan slotted 25 majors from just six outings - a senior call-up beckoned in June. He's since managed four goals from three hitouts but can feel himself finding his feet with some familiar faces.

"I feel like it's a similar group down there to what we used to run," Ryan said.

"I've played with Sam Kelly and Shannon Beks before and guys like Paddy Anderson and Jock Blair are still running around down there.

"Probably the biggest thing for me has been the change in ball movement (to what I'm used to). (Coach Mat Battistello) has done a lot of work around that.

"It's just been things like learning leading patterns and where I need to run."

An improving fitness base has helped Ryan tackle the lofty demands of Hampden league football.

A jam-packed cricket season laid the foundations and while the top-order batsman admitted he "didn't train too much", Creek's commitment to fielding and fitness meant he took a reasonable tank into South Warrnambool's pre-season.

But a pre-Christmas session exposed just how much further he could go.

"I went for a run with the (South) boys before Christmas and it probably caught me off guard how fit they were," he laughed.

"I thought I was travelling all right before Christmas but I think those boys hadn't stopped over the course of 2020 even without footy.

"I was probably hanging around the cricket boys, a few of which play district league footy and comparing (fitness standards) to that."

Ryan said he hadn't over-complicated his role.

"Being a forward, there's not heaps to it," he said.

"(Coaches) have just told me to keep doing what I was doing in the reserves. It's not just about kicking goals, you need to push up the ground and apply defensive pressure and whatnot.

"You've also got to bring the ball to ground."

He said an honest meeting about six weeks ago meant the Roosters were on the same page as they eyed a finals berth.

"We spoke about what we can do better and I think we've been getting gradually better since," Ryan said.

"We've learned our roles a bit more and we're doing that rather than trying to be the star."

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