After a frustrating year on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury, Port Adelaide youngster Sam Colquhoun is finally setting his sights on the upcoming season.
Colquhoun was coming off a strong debut season in 2013 when he ruptured his ACL in a season ending injury in April last year.
Following a long stint in rehab, Colquhoun says the next stage for him is getting back into full contact training and building confidence in his knee.
While he has not ruled out a return in Round 1, the 20-year-old says he has no expectations and is instead focusing on getting his body right.
“I’m just controlling what I can control at the moment and getting my body in the best possible condition that I can,” Colquhoun said at the Power's community camp visit to the Barossa Valley.
Despite spending the season on the sidelines Colquhoun feels like he hasn’t missed a beat, and praised the club for their support in re-signing him for two years in the weeks after he suffered the injury.
“It’s pretty humbling to have the club back you in a situation like that when you are out for such a long period of time so I’ll be taking that confidence and using it this year when I come back and play."
Colquhoun was welcomed back to his old school on the community camp, where he delighted students with stories about his own school days and how he made the transition from local boy to AFL player.
Having only graduated from Faith Lutheran College in 2012, many of Colquhoun's former teachers still teach at the school, so he was forced to give some diplomatic answers when asked who his favourite and least favourite teachers were.
One person that knew Colquhoun well was his year 12 P.E. teacher Ashley Clarke, who remembered just how easy going he was.
“He was just a fantastic student in terms of the way he got along with staff and students at the school,” Mr Clarke said.
“In his final year here he was in the state cricket team, the under-18 state football team, and yet you wouldn’t have known that from Sam, he was just so level headed.”
The school visit also included a presentation about healthy lifestyles and leadership skills, something Mr Clarke sees as an important message that players can get across.
“A lot of the students are aware of some of them but to actually hear them being put in place and players coming through saying that’s how important it actually is, it really brings it home for them.”