It was a long time coming for luckless Cat Josh Cowan.

After more than 18 months on the sidelines, Cowan was finally able to play the game that he loves in Saturday’s VFL practice match against Collingwood at Simonds Stadium.

Cowan has had a career riddled with injury through battles with achilles tendon and hamstring problems since being selected by the Cats with the 56^th pick in 2009 AFL draft. But there was no sign of any rustiness as Cowan played the full four quarters collecting 17 possessions and four clearances in a solid comeback performance.

“Yeah it was good to get out there and play some competitive football, haven’t had that for a long time so very good to get out there and do that,” Cowan said.

For Cats fans and Cowan himself, the most important aspect of Saturday was to get through the match unscathed after working tirelessly in the preseason to prepare himself.

“Yeah my body felt pretty good, it’s been a long preseason.

“I feel like my fitness is back up there and all that stuff, my body is a bit more resilient with the amount of work I got in so starting to feel confident in it.

“I’ve done a lot of match simulation and footy conditioning, footy drills and that, so that gave me a lot of confidence to go out there today knowing that I’ve done that random stuff that is a bit different to just running in straight lines and running laps of the oval,” Cowan said.

After the long period on the sidelines, it was more than just a physical battle to get back for Cowan. For a player whose body has continued to fail him, Cowan had to be mentally ready and confident in his body to get through the rigors of football.

“Thursday night, I started to get really nervous about the weekend but once I got out there that all disappeared and I just had to concentrate on the game.

“It was pretty similar to last year, still a little bit frightened that I won’t make it but got there this year so very happy,” Cowan said.

Geelong fans will be hoping to see Cowan back in the AFL system soon but the 24-year-old knows not to get too ahead of himself.

“I won’t try and look too far ahead because I haven’t made it too far in the last few seasons looking too far ahead.

“I might just worry about what’s going on in the here and now at the moment and worry about that a bit further down the track,” Cowan said.

VFL Coach Paul Hood was full of praise for Cowan after Saturday’s 40-point victory over the Magpies.

“Yeah delighted for Josh, he played really well. Josh is a really smart player, he just hasn’t had the opportunity to show his smarts for a while.

“Its testament to him that he can come back in and play almost seamlessly, didn’t look like someone who’d missed a heap of footy compared to some of the other guys out there.

“A good reward for him and for the people who have worked so hard to get him back to footy,” Hood said.

Cowan, drafted as a midfielder, played predominantly off half-back in the win and sees it as a role which may suit him as he progresses through his career.

“Did most of my work this preseason through the backline, so that’ll probably be where I’ll try and settle.

“Whatever the coaches want, try and lockdown on an opponent, take your opponent out of it and then if you can create off the back of that, that’s probably what I’ll try and do,” Cowan said.