After spending a year on the rookie list, young defender Alan Toovey is poised to run out for the Magpies in their opening pre-season cup match on Friday night, riding the momentum of a promising pre-season campaign.The 19-year-old Western Australian was promoted to the senior list at the end of last season after rising through the ranks at VFL affiliate Williamstown to the point where only his rookie status kept him from making his debut.But after being given his first opportunity to pull on the black and white strip in the club's practice match against Sydney last Friday, Toovey is now set for his first senior appearance."Last week was an awesome experience. It was the first time I've been able to play in the Collingwood jumper because I was injured for all the pre-season games last year," Toovey told collingwoodfc.com.au on Wednesday."There was a pretty good crowd and it was great fun. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be because there were a lot of younger boys I played with down at Williamstown in the side."There was a little step up. I found that you had to be a little bit quicker with your hands and the pressure was a little bit more than normal."But it wasn't a huge step. Every week in the pre-season, it's been a step up, I suppose, and in the main season, it will be another step up from that."Toovey recalled the moment he was informed by manager Justin McMillan of his impending promotion to the senior list at the end of last season."When I first got told, I thought it might have been someone giving me a prank call," he said. "Once I found out it was for real, I was so happy."My manager had been in a meeting with the club and they had said they were really happy with how I'd been going and were looking at putting me on the senior list. That was the first indication I had. Then Neil Balme gave me a contract to sign and it was all good."The pacy left-footer said his kicking skills required development last year, so he set about improving his proficiency in order to be considered for elevation."I generally worked on my kicking. It was one of the areas I needed to work on, so I put a fair bit of effort into making that better," he said. "I missed the end of the pre-season (last year) so I had to get my fitness back up. There was a big change going from playing in Western Australia on big ovals to the small, tight grounds in the VFL."Once I got used to that, I settled into the team down at Williamstown and it was a pretty good club. But it took a while to get used to."The prospect of moving across the country while still so young may have intimidated some, but the sense of loneliness didn't kick in for Toovey until he had been in Melbourne for some time."I went to boarding school in Perth so I was used to not living with my parents, but it was a bit different coming over here," he said."I lived with Shannon Cox and Sam Iles first so we were all in the same boat, having left family and friends. It was a good experience, making friends with all the new boys, and all our second-year players are really close now."The hardest thing for me was when you got back from football training and you wanted to go and relax at one of your mate's places, you just couldn't do that because you didn't know anyone outside of footy."So, for a little while, I was just sitting around doing nothing. But I got used to it and I made some really good friends."Toovey came to Collingwood with a sense of determination, having been touted as a likely draft selection in 2004 and 2005 only to be left without an AFL suitor."It's not a really good feeling when you're sitting there, watching it on the internet, and your name doesn't get called out two years in a row," he said."There were other guys who might not have had as much chance as I did who got picked up. So now, when I get opportunities, I know that I'll have to make the most of them, otherwise I'll get overlooked."Having finally cracked the senior list, Toovey is anticipating his Friday night appointment with the Kangaroos at Carrara on the Gold Coast.While his family will find the distance between Western Australia and Queensland a little too far to travel, his sister Jenna – who he recently moved in with in Richmond – will be in the crowd to witness his pre-season cup debut."I have been talking to a few of the coaches and they were just telling me how to relax and just switch off for the next couple of days and then, when the time comes for the game, just to be ready," he said."Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few good nights of sleep and not worry about it too much."