With the sun beating down and the mercury tipping 35 degrees at Arden St, the final whistle sounded to end a testing three-hour main training session.

As the majority of players headed indoors for some much deserved relief from the heat, Declan Mountford stayed out on the track to do some ‘extras’ and push himself even further.

Before grabbing any water or Gatorade, the 20-year old spent a considerable amount of time kicking and marking balls in quick succession with help from development coaches Gavin Brown and Ben Dyer, and VFL coach David Loader.

“I went through my individual development plans last week and kicking was an area that I can definitely improve,” Mountford told  NMFC.com.au immediately after he’d finally called ‘time’ on the session.

“I’ve also been doing a bit of work with Boomer [Brent Harvey] after training, working on more elite skills like breaking the lines.

“I’ll work as hard as I can to improve before games start next year and while the games are on, because you can always get better no matter the time of year.”

Known for his work ethic and hard-nosed attitude, the pacey youngster had a wake-up call following the 2017 season when a contract extension wasn’t forthcoming, like he had perhaps anticipated.

“I was a little bit surprised because I was working as hard as I could,” he admitted.

“I didn’t have much control over the situation. I was waiting on the club to see if they wanted to extend me or not, so I just kept concentrating on all things that I could keep improving on. I was keeping fit, I got a little bit stronger and did all the little things that count.”

Mountford headed home to the family farm in Albany, Western Australia, to clear his head, all the while maintaining a positive frame of mind and strong body.

“That was one thing I knew; I could always hold my head high knowing I was doing the work. If I had have been given the chop, I knew I did everything I could have in order to get another deal,” he said.

“The people around me said I just had to keep working as hard as I possibly could and keep improving every year … there’s really not much else you can do.

“I had my head down all year, not screwed up or done [sic] nothing wrong but obviously it is a good reminder that your career can go quick.”

Mountford said the reality of his situation hit home the hardest when Corey Wagner was delisted.

“Two years has flown by for me now and seeing first-hand what happened to Corey, who is probably one of my best mates here, you see how quickly it can happen and turn for the worse and not through anything other than the club changing its approach or direction.

“When I went back to WA, I spent a bit of time on the farm and had a bit of time up in Perth with my sisters and friends and tried to keep things pretty normal.

“I was just hoping that it would play out in my favour and it did. The club was good enough to give me another year.”

One week into the pre-season and with a new deal under his belt, it’s already clear that Mountford will be fighting to prove his doubters wrong.

“I think it’s safe to say I’ll always be one of the last blokes, if not the last, in after training.”