He had been through a tight rehabilitation schedule, and had gradually built up his fitness despite a small setback.
But, stuck on a school camp in Queenscliff and Cape Otway in southern Victoria, he couldn't hit the track. He couldn't show the coaches he was ready to throw himself at the ball, hurl himself into contests, zip away from them with the ball tucked under his arm, and do it over and over.
Despite his standing at the club and the likelihood he will join an AFL club in less than two months, the midfielder had to wait.
"I was spewing," Honeychurch said. "We went on camp from the Tuesday to the Thursday, which meant I missed the main sessions on both of those days. That was a bit disappointing, but I did all my running and stuff and was pretty close."
Although perhaps not quite as close as he thought.
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After watching on for the semi-final win over the Northern Knights, he pushed to be picked in last week's preliminary final against Geelong Falcons. He was named in the side on the Thursday night for the second consecutive week – "Mind games," he said – but didn't play.
"I was very close but I was only going to be playing at 50 per cent so they gave another bloke a crack who was at 80 or 90 per cent. It worked out pretty well, I guess," he said.
On Sunday, Honeychurch returned to play a solid part in the Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Grand Final win over the Dandenong Stingrays.
Eastern had a lot of good players – it won by a record Grand Final margin of 112 points – but Honeychurch was one of the best, with 16 disposals, three goals and six inside-50 entries. Although lacking some match fitness, his signature didn't change.
"I think it's just about competing. I'm always going to compete when I'm around the ball, no matter who I'm playing for, if it's the Ranges, or whoever," he said. "That's my key factor, and I think it shows in how I play."
He had recent experience in returning from injury and performing straight away. After breaking his left wrist during the pre-season, Honeychurch returned to the Ranges for their TAC Cup season opener. He then broke his right lower arm.
The 175cm midfielder came back for the championships, playing four games, averaging 25 disposals, five tackles and winning Metro's most valuable player award. It gave him confidence to come back for Eastern and make an immediate impact.
"I felt ready in my mind because after coming back from the broken wrists I went straight back in for Metro and Ranges so it was pretty full on," he said.
"There's always a bit of nervous tension and you think to yourself 'Am I going to do well? Is the team going to do well?' I just tried to play my role as much as I could and gave it a crack."
Twitter: @AFL_CalTwomey
