2017 Richmond premiership player Kamdyn McIntosh says he has the continued support of his teammates, and a highly motivated pre-season, to thank for his recent performances at AFL level.
Speaking candidly to teammate, and friend, Jack Riewoldt on the star forward’s SEN show Tiger Time, McIntosh reflected on the difficulty of missing the 2019 AFL Grand Final win and how it spurred him on this pre-season.
McIntosh played 16 of the opening 17 games in 2019 and was placed fifth in the Jack Dyer Medal after 12 rounds, before he lost his place in the senior team late in the year. The 26-year-old was strongly in the frame for a Grand Final spot right up until the eve of the game, having been withdrawn from the VFL premiership six days earlier.
“It was a day before the (AFL) Grand Final, just before the captain’s run, and Dimma let me know that they were going to select Marlion (Pickett) over myself or ‘Rossy’ (Jack Ross),” he said.
“I was pretty flat and pretty cut right then and there, but I knew I had all my best mates out on the footy field that I needed to help support as well, and I couldn’t be a downer.
“It definitely left a little bit of frustration, but I also sort of saw it as maybe an opportunity.”
McIntosh took solace from the continued strong performances of older teammates Riewoldt (31), Shane Edwards (31), Trent Cotchin (30) and Dustin Martin (29).
“I was just like I’m not done yet. I wanted to come back and see if I could make an impact and prove a point,” he said.
“I went to Utah to see Ben Lennon and he had college during the day, and I just went over there for two and a half weeks and just used that as a bit of a motivator for me to come back and really hit pre-season hard.
“I was setting PBs in the gym, put on a bit of weight, and felt like I was having the best pre-season I’d had.”
A minor syndesmosis injury then threatened to derail the popular Tigers’ pre-season.
“I thought s**t things aren’t going too well, and started questioning myself again,” he said.
“Where’s my spot on the wing? Where is my spot in the side if they are playing Josh Caddy and Marlion (on the wings)?
“A lot of those emotional thoughts were starting to come up, and without you boys and the support that you showed, I wouldn’t have been able to get the confidence back and go out there and perform the way I have been performing lately.”
McIntosh has not missed a game since first being selected in the senior side this year in the Round 4 clash against St Kilda.
