Gregson back on his feet

It has taken three surgeries to get the goalsneak back to full fitness — the first in July 2016, before a second in January 2017 to remove a screw that was causing him discomfort.

But it was midway through last year when Gregson found himself on the surgery bench for a third time, struggling to see a return date in sight.

“I was definitely flat, that was probably the lowest point,” Gregson said.

“It’s pretty annoying watching the boys play when you’re on the list and not being able to do anything or help them on the field.

“It’s been annoying and incredibly frustrating for me, and my partner (Lil McAvaney) who’s been through a lot as well.

“I’m not a big fan of letting other people do a whole lot for me, so when I was on crutches or just after surgery I couldn’t do much, so she was doing a lot. She got angry at me for trying to do too much and then I’d get angry at her. It just kept going for a little bit.”

But McAvaney and Gregson’s teammates have been his biggest supports, along with player development manager David Johnson.

Gregson also confided in Daniel Menzel, another Cat who has had his fair stint on the sidelines.

“We spoke a fair bit in-between the second and third surgery, when it probably wasn’t going as smoothly as we’d hoped, and he’d just talk to me about where my head space was at and all the things he did when he was going through his bad phase,” Gregson said.

Tomorrow will be one of the highlights in a thus-far injury-plagued career.

“It feels like I’ve just been drafted again, because I’ve missed so long,” he said.

“The boys got around me pretty hard today, which was nice, in training, so I’m pretty pumped.”