St Kilda forward Tim Membrey will enjoy the luxury of a full pre-season in 2017, something that went awry last year. 

Booting 44 goals in 2016, Membrey fast became a key pillar in a towering forward line with Josh Bruce, Paddy McCartin and a roaming Nick Riewoldt. Four bags of five goals after missing the first five rounds stamped the arrival of the one they call Skunk.

All this was achieved with a limited pre-season.

An unfortunate training incident late in the 2015 season meant not only did his shoulder require reconstructive surgery, but preparation was 2016 was to be limited with a no contact program.

Fast forward 12 months and Tim Membrey is a clean bill of health, looking to build on his breakout year in 2017.

Speaking to the media on Monday, the 22-year-old spoke of the belief he had despite an interrupted pre-season.

“Just sort of backed myself in,” Membrey said.

“I didn’t have a full pre-season contact-wise, but I did a lot of running and managed to build up my tank,

“I guess that set myself up being able to run out games very strongly and I put a lot of confidence in all that, which goes back to the fitness staff and physios, they’ve put a lot of time into me.”

That time and effort, along with a program tailored around his injury, helped mould Membrey into a strong-cored forward – ranked second in St Kilda side for average marks and fourth in the AFL for marks inside 50.

With a great base to work from, the 188cm forward won’t take a full pre-season for granted as he strives towards the first 22 game season of his career.

“First day back trying to settle in,” he said.

“I’ll sit down with Sammy Hamill and go through a few goals and expectations I’d like to hit going into next year.

“Last year missed a fair bit of pre-season with a shoulder injury, but it’s going to be good to be back out there and amongst the contact with the fellas”.

A scary thought for AFL defences, but an exciting one for St Kilda supporters.