After 12 months of frustration, Fergus Greene is hopeful there's light at the end of the tunnel.
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The Western Bulldogs forward had his 2019 season skittled by a shoulder injury and he was primed for a big 2020 before COVID-19 put footy on hold.
Life in lockdown for the best part of two months has only enhanced the footy appetite of the former Sandhurst and Bendigo Pioneers forward.
"I rediscovered the passion and love for the game last year when I was watching the boys go on a really good run to the finals,'' Greene said.
"It was hard knowing I couldn't be a part of it.
"I had a really big push this season to try and get into the side. It's been frustrating to have the start of this season taken away, but we're all in the same boat and we have to live with it.
"I really want to hang around and be part of the club for a long time, so I've got a drive there to do well."
That form earned him a one-year extension on his contract, which expires at the end of 2020.
The shoulder injury last year didn't allow him to add to his five matches.
The injury forced him to start pre-season training a little later than his team-mates, but he put in the hard yards and completed all of the sessions post-Christmas until a slight calf injury on the eve of the season put paid to any hopes he had of playing in the senior side against Collingwood in round one.
"For me, personally, this is a big year for me because I need to perform well to get a new contract, so that's been my big personal motivator," he said.
That's been Greene's driving force during lockdown.
Training in pairs has its challenges, but Greene has tried to stay positive.
"I live near Lin Jong, so I've been doing a fair bit of training with him,'' Greene said.
"We have a similar fitness base, so it's been nice to do a lot of the workload with him.
"There's a few other guys that live in the area close to Footscray, so we've changed things up a bit just to keep our minds relatively fresh.
"The uncertainty of when we're going back has its challenges. Everyone is pretty optimistic that we're going to get a season in, so that does put a pep in our step.
"My body feels good at the moment, touch wood.
"It was a frustrating year last year...hopefully I get a clean run this year.
"There's no niggles at the moment, so I'd like to get a short pre-season in and then head into the season up and running."
Greene said the biggest challenge during lockdown has been maintaining his skills - particularly by foot.
"There's been sessions where you can't find someone to train with and you run by yourself and you find yourself kicking the ball and chasing it like you did when you were five years old,'' he said.
"Luckily, I live with my brother (Seb) and I've been able to train with him, but even he did a calf right at the start of quarantine, so I lost him for a while.
"The hardest aspect has been working on kicking, but when we get back (to the club) I think everyone will be in the same boat.
"It might take a bit for players to get their touch back, but considering we did a lot of work before isolation I'm confident we'll all adapt pretty well."
Lockdown hasn't just been about footy training for Greene.
He's enrolled in a financial marketing course to "keep the brain ticking over".
"I've brought out a few old video games as well and NBA2K has been getting a good run,'' Greene said.
"We can't play golf, so a few of the boys have downloaded a (golf) game on the PS4 and we play that every few nights.
"I'm no good at real golf, but I enjoy it. I picked it up at the start of this year and I found it really relaxing.
"A few of the other boys are pretty handy at it, so I have to pick my crowd if I want to win."
The Bulldogs have had lockdown to mull over their poor performance against Collingwood in round one.
After entering the season-opener with plenty of confidence, the Dogs were outclassed by the Magpies.
"We didn't speak too much about the game because by the Monday after the game we were told we had to leave the club,'' Greene said.
"We lost the elimination final (last year) to the Giants and got outbodied a lot and pushed around physically. Over the pre-season we worked a lot on making sure that didn't happen again.
"Against Collingwood in round one we didn't send the message we wanted.
"Come round two, I'm sure Bevo (coach Luke Beveridge) will have the boys fit and firing and ready to put the foot forward that we wanted to do in round one."
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