Mitch Robinson says he has been rejuvenated as both a footballer and a person following a successful first season at the Brisbane Lions.
The 26-year-old has been one of the positive stories to come from the Lions' season, turning around a perceived "bad boy" image to become a leader at his new home.
He has averaged 20 touches and seven tackles in his 19 games, but it has been since going into the midfield, and largely playing tagging roles, in the past few weeks where his real value has surfaced.
In the past five matches he has averaged 28 touches and has laid 48 tackles.
The turnaround has come after his career was in doubt last year after Carlton sacked him due to off-field behaviour.
"It has been a good year for me on field and off field, and I have been able to find that consistency in my game," Robinson told The Examiner.
"Early in the year we had some injuries up forward, so I had to go forward and provide a bit of tackling pressure, and since Beamsy [Dayne Beams] has gone out with his shoulder there has been a silver lining for myself where I have been able to get in the midfield.
"It feels like a breath of fresh air for me up here and a different aspect of football I've been able to see as one of the older boys in the team.
"I am rejuvenated with this new role here, my family is happy here and everything is just going well."
Another positive of his move north is the opportunity to play in his home state for the first time when Brisbane faces Hawthorn at Launceston's Aurora Stadium on Saturday.
It will be the first time the 119-game player has stepped foot on the ground since his junior days.
Robinson promised to continue with the physical nature of his game, and could be tagging Jordan Lewis or Sam Mitchell on Saturday.
‘‘I’m really excited about it and most of my family and friends will be making the trip up.
‘‘Hopefully we can be really competitive on the day and make sure we can continue to go in the right direction.
‘‘It is a big ground, so we will need to make sure we use the door in the corridor and play that attacking style of footy that Leppa [coach Justin Leppitsch] has put in front of us, because when we play to our structures and move the ball well we can play good quarters.
‘‘For us, it will be good to get that experience into our young blokes of playing against one of the best teams and hopefully we can be competitive, and we do have pride on the line so we will be having a red-hot crack.’’
Meanwhile, Robinson’s Tasmanian teammate Ryan Harwood, of Glenorchy, has re-signed with the club for another two seasons.
The 24-year-old is currently sidelined due to hip surgery.
