In 2014 Hamish McIntosh is desperate to earn his spot amongst his teammates having spent all of 2013 stuck on the injury list.
The lanky ruckman, who has waited two years to put on his boots, hopes to be out there as early as next week, when the Cats meet the Pies for the NAB Challenge on Wednesday night.
“It’s been a long wait and an up and down journey but now I just can’t wait to get out there to play some footy. It’s been two years so I’m looking forward to having a kick,” McIntosh told 3AW Radio.
However, with so many reliable Cats in the mix McIntosh realises that a spot in the senior list will be a tough one to get.
“Everyone is up and going now. Big Dawson Simpson, even though he only played eight games last year, he has shown he can play some really good footy and (Mark) Blicavs has been a great success from last year - and you’ve got Nathan Vardy in there as well,” McIntosh explained.
“It’s going to be very competitive but it’s good to see everyone up and running compared to last year when we were all stuck in the injury room.”
If all goes to plan McIntosh can see Simpson and himself in the ruck and Vardy up front.
“Probably myself and Dawes will spend more time in the ruck and Nathan (Vardy) will play more key forward - but it will be pretty competitive between us three.”
“We’ve just got to make sure our form is good and then see who the coach picks.”
The latter part of the pres-season McIntosh has been in full swing at training. Despite feeling excited to make his comeback, he still remains cautious and refuses to look too far ahead.
“It’s going well at this stage, touch wood.”
“I actually don’t look too far in advance, I just take it one week at a time.”
“At the moment I’m feeling really good - I’ve had a really smooth six months and I haven’t had any hiccups. I’m just excited to get out there and play some footy - it’s hopefully going to start next week and then we’ll go from there.”
McIntosh admits that last year was one of the hardest years he’s ever endured. His number one goal for 2014 is not just to get back playing footy but also to earn the respect from his teammates.
“I’ve said a couple of times it was the most mentally challenging year of my career,” McIntosh said.
“I’ve made some close friends but for the whole year I felt slightly uncomfortable. I didn’t feel like I had earned the respect from the guys down here, especially being the kind of champion players they are and the success they have had.
“I felt embarrassed at times walking into the club and not stepping foot on the training track. To walk in each day as a recruit and not to have any sort of impact or play a game was terribly disappointing and incredibly embarrassing at times.
“That’s why I’m really keen this year to come out and prove to the people that I can play and say thanks to Geelong for picking me up - and I’ll try and do everything I can to play some good footy.”
Some other new faces that could possibly hit the stage this pre-season are new draftees Jake Kolodjashnij, Jarrad Janson and Darcy Lang.
According to McIntosh all three deserve to make an appearance.
“The new boys are looking really good and Lang is back into training now and he’s flying and going really well - he’s a really smooth mover.”
“He’s one of those blokes when he has the ball he looks like he’s got a lot of time.
“I think all of those three guys might get a look in this pre-season, with the way they’ve been training they definitely deserve a game."
