The 2003 best-and-fairest winner has had a wretched few years, with two knee reconstructions leading to chronic hamstring issues, injuries that have kept him sidelined since round 12, 2006.
But successful treatment in Germany last season saw him return to the track with Coburg for the last few games of the year, and that has flowed through into the pre-season.
After training at a hot Punt Rd on Tuesday, he declared he was ready to re-enter the big time.
"It's pretty exciting – I've done most of the pre-season, and I'm just trying to get through the rest of January now and put my hand up for that first game against Fremantle over there," he said.
"I'm feeling pretty good in the body - this year's just been a bonus, being able to do a pre-season and the group's looking pretty good for the year, so I'm pretty excited about maybe being a part of that."
The 26-year-old admitted he was a touch nervous as he looked to play his first game at a senior level for a long time.
"I guess it's a bit of an unknown for me – the game has changed a fair bit in three years, and I haven't played since 2006.
"For me it's really exciting, just being able to get out there and see how we're going to go about it.
"There are a lot of young guys at the club – Brett Deledio – that I haven't played a lot of games with, so I'm just excited about maybe getting out with them."
Coughlan said he was confident that his time out of the game hadn't diminished his ability to play.
"I want to play but it's a bit of an unknown for me – I've certainly got the confidence that I can still mix it at AFL level, but it's just about, when I get the opportunity, making the most of it.
"I've got the fitness, now it's just about taking it into games.
"There are four or five games, including intra-clubs that you can play in, and you need that two or three games, at least, running into a season."
