Emerging wingman-half back Daniel McKenzie has continued his excellent pre-season, finishing just behind St Kilda endurance king Jarryn Geary in Friday’s three km time-trial at Linen House Centre.

While Geary held on by a few seconds ahead of McKenzie, the athletic utility made a statement in the clubs first test of 2017.

St Kilda High Performance Manager, Matt Hornsby, said the 20-year-old was reaping the rewards for his hard work and professionalism this summer, on the back of a breakout patch at the tail end of last season.

“He has taken his running to another level to be able to challenge the likes of Geary and [Jack] Newnes which is a sign he’s becoming an elite level runner,” Hornsby told saints.com.au on Friday.  

“He ran a PB and while you hope guys in that younger age bracket do make bigger improvements, he’s a really strong runner so it’s harder to make those significant gains

“He certainly puts the effort in and he’s now confident mentally that he can match it with the guys.”

St Kilda’s final pick (No. 56) in last November’s National Draft, Ed Phillips, made an impression in his maiden time-trial at the club, finishing just behind Geary and McKenzie in third-place.

Hornsby is confident the hard running onballer has the capacity to establish himself as an elite runner inside an AFL environment, following the stunning effort in searing heat on Friday.

“He ran a really strong run and I think he’ll only get better and become an elite endurance runner, which is great when you get guys into the club like that,” Hornsby said.

“We knew Ed was a strong runner, but it’s always a challenge when you run on a new track for the first time and against new opponents, even though they’re teammates they’re opponents in that environment, they don’t know how they compare and where they need to run at. So it was really impressive by him.”