Geelong VFL recruit Matt Firman is hanging onto a desire of returning to an AFL list at the end of the season.

Firman joined the Cats’ VFL team this year after his rookie contract at Essendon was terminated at the end of last season.

In a bid to reignite his credentials as a potential AFL player, the prospect of returning to his childhood home to play in the Cat’s VFL side – which has produced several AFL products over its seven-year existence – proved too irresistible to refuse.

“It’s good to get back home I suppose, because I lived here in Geelong before I went off to Canberra and then off to Melbourne, so I’m enjoying being back home,” Firman said.

“A part of me wanted to come back home, I wanted to play football back home.

“After having a chat to Leigh (Tudor) it was almost a certainly I was going to come back and play down here. The opportunity down here was good and it’s a great place.”

Even if he never gets another crack at the big time, the 21-year-old has a genuine story of how fickle football can be.

Firman was poised to make his AFL debut for Essendon against Western Bulldogs in round 22 last year, before his dreams were left shattered after a training mishap in a routine drill.

Bending down to gather a loose football, Firman was minutes away from completing the main training session when he tore his hamstring.

Despite having never injured his hamstring before, he was immediately resigned to the fact he would not fulfill a childhood ambition.

“It was probably the last five minutes of the session, I was running up and down, went down to pick up a ball and just felt it go,” Firman said.

“I hadn’t done a hammy before, so I didn’t really know, but in the back of my mind I knew it was gone.

“I went up to the club doctor and told him and then I spoke to Sheeds and he sort of looked at me and said ‘you’re kidding aren’t you?’ and I said ‘na!’ so I never really got there.”

Firman had been rewarded for his stellar season for the Bendigo Bombers last year, where shot to prominence through his tough ball winning ability and hardness around the contests.

He finished fourth in the team’s best and fairest for the season.

It was little consolation though; his dream to play AFL football shattered and Essendon de-listed him soon after.

It was a savage end to his three-year tenure at Essendon.

“It was so disappointing,” Firman said.

“I was shattered at the time, obviously, and never got another chance so that was really disappointing, but that’s the way it goes with football I suppose.”

By his own admission, his form this season has been a little down on his expectations, but he says that after playing at a success-starved Bendigo last year, he is thrilled to take this year’s team success over individual triumph.

His attitude is refreshing and extremely commendable, particularly given his ultimate goal is to prove himself capable of playing elite-level football again.

“My form personally hasn’t been as good as I would have liked, probably due to the team being so good,” he said.

“I think there’s probably been a little less opportunity to stand up, but that’s fine because the team has been going so well.

“You take the less opportunities with the good team form, because I didn’t have that last year, so I’m happy.”