While the pre-season cranks up a notch or two in January as games loom on the horizon, training doesn’t become any easier but it does become less of a grind, says small defender Jarryn Geary.

Geary, who finished behind Jack Steven in last year’s Trevor Barker Award, has been setting the pace once again this pre-season, leading the field home in last week’s 3km time-trial, ahead of the vastly improved Daniel McKenzie and draftee Ed Phillips.

“It’s still very tough, but it gets to be a bit more enjoyable [when] you’ve got a lot more footy and match simulation [at training], which is obviously really enjoyable,” Geary told saints.com.au.

“We’ve still got lots of running at the end of training, but the majority of the running and the training is in the match simulation, so it’s the most enjoyable month of pre-season.”

Less than two months into his time at the Saints, 18-year-old Phillips ran the furthest distance in Wednesday’s six-minute run, ahead of seasoned endurance animals, Sean Dempster and Geary.

The Oakleigh Chargers recruit has helped increase St Kilda’s endurance depth this pre-season, joining the likes of Geary, McKenzie, Sean Dempster, Jack Newnes, Nathan Freeman, Mav Weller and Seb Ross at the front of the pack.

Geary lauded Phillips and McKenzie for their impressive pre-seasons on the track, although he won’t be relinquishing the endurance title without a fight.

“Ed got the chocolates in the six-minute run, which is a great effort followed closely behind by Sean Dempster and then myself,” Geary said.

“He’s taken the title now in that discipline, he’s got the 3km now, so late January we might have another one and he might have the opportunity to take me on there.

“D-Mac’s been snapping on the heels of everyone up the front for the majority of the pre-season; he’s only getting better and better, training really well and definitely heading in the right direction.”

Geary said the newfound depth of elite runners at Linen House Centre has helped drag the entire group along to a new standard this summer, helping those less suited to distance running as well.

“There’s a good bulk of blokes running together when we do the main running sessions after training or during training. There’s a big bunch of blokes who are starting to become really solid runners,” he said.

“There’s 10 to 15 blokes that are really running hard and challenging each other, then the other guys who running probably isn’t their strength they are improving as well as so we’re going pretty well in that aspect.”