Early in his career at Hawthorn, Osborne received a solid grounding with the club’s VFL side Box Hill before cementing a spot in the senior line-up.
But after a mixed start to 2010, Osborne found himself on the outer and back in the VFL.
It was a not so subtle message from the coaching staff that reputations counted for nothing and that improvement had to be made by senior players.
Not one to drop his head, Osborne put in the hard work he had to and returned to the Hawthorn side for last week’s game against Carlton.
“It was a bit frustrating but I got the chance to go back to the VFL and get some confidence up and it’s good to be back,” he said.
“I played some games with Box Hill in 2007 coming back from injury but I haven’t been dropped for a while before that.”
Osborne was one of the most senior players in the Box Hill side during his brief stint there earlier this year but the 2008 premiership hero was careful not to consider himself above playing at VFL level.
“Being part of the senior team for the past few years I always try to show some leadership and help out the younger guys," Osborne said.
"It’s no different with the Box Hill guys. They have played with a lot of the young Hawthorn players so it was a good chance to go back there and lead a different group.”
Osborne responded to his call-up to the Carlton game in fine style.
His 17 possessions and two goals resulted in his best performance of the year and even earned him two votes in the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award.
The 27-year-old says he is playing with renewed self-belief.
“I’m finding the ball a lot more and being in close and being able to have the opportunity to put on pressure too if I don’t win the ball,” he said.
“Getting the ball in the hands always gives you a bit of confidence so I’m looking forward to more of that this week.”
Osborne’s return to form has coincided with the Hawks turning things around and he says big things are expected for the remainder of the season.
“The win over Richmond, albeit by only a couple of points was still a win and it had our momentum moving upward,” he said.
“Going into the Carlton game we did a few things a bit better than we did the week before. We are definitely improving and excited about the rest of the season.”
Much of the Hawthorn discussion over the past week has centred around leadership - namely the choice of Sam Mitchell over Luke Hodge as senior captain.
But Osborne says it does not matter who has the title as both are exceptional leaders of the side.
“They are not the only two leaders at the club," he said. "They are captain and vice-captain and the team does look up to them very much, but we’ve got a large leadership group and a lot of young guys coming through with leadership qualities.
“Responsibilities are spread really well throughout the team and both those guys are great examples of leaders for us both on and off the field. They both do a good job and no one looks to either of them more than the other."
