HAWTHORN'S Michael Osborne has been one of footy’s ‘nearly men’ for, well, nearly a decade, but 2008 could be the year that the tenacious forward finally establishes himself as a permanent fixture in the Hawks’ line-up.

In just two rounds so far, he’s averaged better than 23 possessions – almost double his career standard – and has made a huge impression in the Hawks’ wins over Melbourne and Fremantle.

While Osborne is confident he’s had it in him all along, he concedes that missing out on summer after summer had stifled his ability to play his best footy.

“I actually did a pre-season this year,” Osborne quipped when asked if there was anything different or unusual about his preparation for 2008.

“The last couple of years I’ve been hampered by some injuries which haven’t really allowed me to get on the track much.

“Last year, my fitness base wasn’t anywhere near where it needed to be to play at this level so, this year, to get a good solid pre-season in is what’s helped me so far.”

Elevated off the rookie list in 2001, Osborne has managed to put together 78 games in his time on the senior list after starting his football career with Labrador in the QAFL.

Offered a one-year deal at the conclusion of the 2007 season, Osborne is doing all the right things to remain in the brown and gold in 2009.

Indeed, while many Hawthorn fans feared what would become of their suspension-hit side early in the year, Osborne has stepped into the breach as a ball-winning forward and remains confident of keeping his spot.

“I’ve been playing the same sort of role as last year, so hopefully when those guys come back from suspension, they’ll add something to our make-up and we’ll be able to go from there,” he said.

On Saturday afternoon at Telstra Dome, Osborne, his teammates and their 2-0 record will face a new challenge from the outfit that eliminated the Hawks from the 2007 finals series - North Melbourne.

“It was a big blow losing to the Kangaroos in the semi-finals last year and every time we play them it’s a really hard hit-out,” he said.

“We’re not focusing on (last year’s final) too much, but it’s still in the back of our minds that we’ve got to improve a bit more when we come up against them again.”