ALEX Browne had a promising start to his AFL career in 2011, playing two senior games and showing enough to suggest he will be a member of Essendon's midfield in the future. But he still has a long way to go. This pre-season, AFL.com.au will be tracking Browne's progression and development with monthly updates as he works to take his game to the next level.

IT IS refreshing to hear Alex Browne, Essendon's strong-bodied and well-balanced midfielder, talk of his excitement over his upcoming pre-season. He knows it will be hard work, but is equally aware of the benefits it will bring.  

"I'm looking forward to it," the 19-year-old says with a smile. "I want to gain a lot more respect around the footy club as far as trying to hold my own. Respect is a big thing around this club and that's my first goal."

After being selected in the 2010 NAB AFL Draft with pick 48, Browne only began his first pre-season in late November last year, almost six weeks after his more experienced teammates.

Along with the other first-year Bombers, he was eased through the program, completing roughly 50 per cent of the workload before entering his maiden AFL season.

But as he prepares for 2012, Browne is ready for a full pre-season campaign and the challenges - both physical and mental - that will come with it. 

"Compared to last year, we are almost jumping into the deep end this year and doing the majority of the work," Browne said last Friday at Windy Hill, his third official day back at the club.

"It's exciting because, being in your second year, you don't have any excuses anymore of being a first-year player and being the youngest at the club.

"I'm looking forward to that responsibility and taking ownership of who I am and my future."

Though Browne and a number of other younger members of Essendon's squad returned to training last Wednesday, the demands on an AFL player in the modern game require full-year fitness.

While on his break, Browne travelled to Las Vegas with a large group of teammates before going to New York with David Myers and Travis Colyer. There, they began their off-season program outlined by the club's new high performance manager, Dean Robinson.

They went for a bike ride around Central Park and were on the treadmills in the gymnasium, maintaining a fitness base ahead of their return to Melbourne. It is an approach Browne said he had taken out of his first year in the AFL system.

"There was definitely a lesson in living the right lifestyle and being very professional away from the club," he said.

"It's very easy to be professional when you're here, but the really good players carry it on away from the club as well and that's why they're so good."

After testing to begin the first three days of pre-season - "I've never been so sore from three days of training in my life," Browne says - Essendon's regular program will consist of three full days per week, an early start on Saturday mornings, two half-days at the club and one full day off during the week. There are weights sessions almost every day, nestled around brackets of skills, running and strategy.

Browne's focus on getting stronger over the ball is critical to his improvement, after Essendon's coaches told him at his end-of-season review that they saw him as an inside, ball-winning midfielder.

He has the outside skills to match - he's tall and athletic and enjoys taking the game on - but is keen to enter next year weighing 88kg, three kilograms heavier than his current weight.

"They want me to be that inside midfielder so I'm happy to try and play that role. I think I attack the ball pretty hard, so if I can add a little bit more weight behind that it'll be beneficial for me around the footy," he says.

The club also expects Browne to improve the defensive aspects of his game; an area he concedes is a weakness.

After playing with a strong Oakleigh Chargers team in the TAC Cup in 2010 - seven Chargers got drafted - and Xavier College in the APS, Browne admits he came into Essendon unaware of the defensive requirements at the elite level.

He is now more conscious of what is necessary and has clearly thought about where he needs to get better and how to do it. Now sees his chance to implement those plans.

"It's a bit of a wake-up call when you come into this system and you don't realise how much work you have to do, and how much work you probably haven't done in previous years," Browne says.

"I've still got a lot to do."

Callum Twomey covers Essendon news for AFLcom.au and essendonfc.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @Cal_Twomey