The unlucky ruckman from North Melbourne, Hamish McIntosh, hasn’t been able to take his first leap for the centre bounce in the blue and white hoops having being stuck on the long-term injury list all year.

When McIntosh arrived at the Cattery at the beginning of the year he was recuperating from a knee reconstruction. Once his knee healed he was then struck down again but this time it was his ankle.

McIntosh admits his introduction to the Cats hasn’t been easy from the sidelines, however, this week on Cats TV he revealed that his body’s feeling good and he’s confident he’ll be back in full force next year.

“It hasn’t been the ideal start coming to a new club, you want to make a pretty good impression and unfortunately I haven’t been able to make it onto the field to play any games,” McIntosh said.

“It’s been incredibly frustrating and shattering not being able to play footy at all and especially because we’re going to play finals.

“The body is feeling really good now, it’s just about getting enough load into the body to make sure I can hold up to playing AFL footy.”

McIntosh and the club have been working hard on his recovery and he’s already starting to see significant improvements out on the track.

“At the minute I’m back out doing some running and a lot of strength stuff to make sure I’m right to go for day one in pre-season and have a big year next year,” McIntosh explained.

The most hit-outs the 203cm ruckman has made during one game, was a high total of 41 in Round 15 against the Hawks in 2009. The last game McIntosh played out was in Round 7 in 2012.  

Since then he’s been itching to get out there again to play some hard footy and he’s doing everything in his power to make it happen.

The 28-year-old believes he has a few more years to give and he’s not planning to hang up the boots anytime soon. He understands many may be dubious about his return to footy, however he is not.

“I’m definitely committed and I wouldn’t say it’s my one last crack, I feel as though I’ll have a few more goes yet,” McIntosh said.  

“I’m doing everything I can to come back and play footy, I understand there would be a lot of doubters out there, naturally when you’ve only played eight games in three years, a lot of people doubt whether you can still play footy but I’m confident with the surgeries I’ve had and the work I’m doing that I’ll be able to get back to play footy."