Toby Conway returned from injury for his season debut in the VFL on the weekend, marking his first game since in the blue and white since round 22 last season.
After entering the game early in the second quarter, the young ruckman did a little bit of everything in his return game picking up 13-disposals and 14-hitouts.
In an exciting showing for Cats fans, Conway added four tackles and three clearances in a strong first outing, providing glimpses of his potential right throughout the game.
After getting through his return match unscathed, Conway said he enjoyed getting back out on the ground and playing footy again.
“I felt really good, it helped to come on in the second quarter and I was running around a bit fresher than everyone else,” Conway told geelongcats.com.au.
“It felt good compared to last year, a lot stronger through the legs and we have a really good medical team here. I ran it out pretty well.
"It would have been nice to get the win, but I’m glad I’m playing again. I’d rather be sad about the loss than being in the gym doing leg weights.
"It was a tough game but I’m happy to be out there.”
Conway was taken with pick 24 in the 2021 draft, managing 10 VFL games in 2022 before injury saw him miss the majority of this season.
Likened to champion Geelong ruckman Brad Ottens, the exciting young prospect has found plenty of role models around the club to help him develop his game.
“Rhys Stanley and I have a great relationship,” Conway said.
“We have a great balance between having a laugh and being serious, then knowing when to knuckle down a bit.
"It’s not just Rhys, it’s Jon Ceglar, Brad Ottens, Josh Jenkins has been huge for me and Nigel Lappin is great with the ruck work.
"I have a great support team around me.”
The VFL Cats fell just short in a thriller with Essendon on Sunday, but Geelong will take plenty of positives away from the contest, including Conway’s return.
The big ruckman said that despite the loss, the team will look to build on these positives and regroup next week against Brisbane.
“It’s a pretty similar theme in both AFL and VFL, we are just trying to get better each week,” Conway said.
“We didn’t take our chances this week, but at an individual and team level we might not get the result we want, but each week we focus on things to get better.
"It’s funny when you lose, you think about all the mistakes you made but we’re improving each week, it’s a journey.”
After his successful return to football, Conway will have the remaining four games of the VFL season to build match fitness and form heading toward 2024.
The young ruckman said it is very much a week-by-week outlook for him at the moment, with a number of goals to tick off before the season ends.
“It’s very process based at the moment, just trying to get through each week,” Conway said.
“Next week I’ll try to get through a full game and then try to find some continuity from there.
I think that will be the biggest thing for me, I haven’t played much footy over the last two years so finding some constant game time and improving will be my biggest goal.”
The VFL Cats will take on Brisbane at 11am on Saturday, prior to the AFL Cats doing battle with the Lions.
