The 19 year-old struggled early on with a back injury which was painful enough to sideline him for much of the first half of the season.
While it hasn’t been the ideal start at his new home, Mabon believes months of rehabilitation have actually improved him as a footballer.
“The easiest way to earn respect from the playing group is to play some good footy and I wasn’t able to do that (early on) so you feel a bit left out," Mabon told kangaroos.com.au.
"I had to earn respect from doing my rehab correctly and doing everything I could to get back out on the field.”
The former North Ballarat Rebel says his time on the sidelines gave him the perfect chance to work on some of his weaker points.
“Even though I haven’t played much footy, I still believe I’ve improved as a player just through the way I’ve been taught how to use my body. From all the weights I’ve been doing I’m definitely improving in my strength tests.”
Adding to the already impressive ruck stocks at Aegis Park, Mabon has had the chance to learn from two of the league's most established big men; Hamish McIntosh and Todd Goldstein.
“It’s been great learning from Goldy and Hamish. I’ve sat down and watched vision with both of them. They’ve been really fantastic to learn from.”
Former Kangaroo and now specialist North Melbourne ruck coach Alex Ischenko has also been a strong influence.
"Big Russian (Ischenko) is really good at teaching us how to use our bodies. Sometimes I can’t use my body the way that he thinks I can. He told me to ‘move him’ one day and he’s about 140kg and I was about 80kg at the time so I didn’t do much damage.
“He’s been really good and hopefully I’ll be a completely different player in three years time once I put on the weight I have to and all the work on technique will start paying off.”
While the path to the highest level is often a long one for a developing ruckman, Mabon has already shown good signs in his three games back for the North Ballarat reserves in the VFL.
On Saturday he had 14 possessions and 15 hit-outs and most pleasingly, he knows exactly the areas he needs to work on.
“I want to improve my marking. It could really take me to the next level if I can start taking strong, contested marks and start pushing forward as well. I definitely want to be a versatile player.
“It will be good to get a full pre-season under my belt. I’ve still got a long, long way to go both physically and mentally.”
