For Mason Wood, this postseason is about putting an end to the “frustrating” injuries that have plagued his career.
Having only played 39 games since being drafted in 2012, the dynamic forward is eager for some consistency from his body.
“I got out 13 games which is the best I ever had, so I’m taking that as a positive but I’m still missing a lot of games of footy,” Wood told North Media’s In Review podcast.
“There’s plenty to work on going into 2019 both in terms of my footy and body.
“(The injuries) are frustrating, and that’s the conversation I’ve had will all the coaches, how do we get me to a point where I can play 22-plus games in a year?”
Wood missed a reasonable chunk of preseason training last year after a number of minor injuries, which forced him to spend the first six weeks of the season in the VFL.
“A broken thumb and then a dislocated finger hurt my continuity and my ability to play consistent footy, but the rehabbers and all the strength and conditioning staff got me to a really good point and I felt like once I got in the team I was able to make an impact,” Wood said.
“After having so many soft tissue injuries, I said as long as it’s not soft tissues I’m happy, but at the same time you’re still frustrated that you’re missing footy.
“If you’re going to get injured, you’d rather the ones that you can’t help compared the ones that you can. It’s annoying, but at the same time it’s footy, we play a contact sport.”
The 24-year-old says he now has a better understanding of what is required to keep a clean bill of health having succumb to so many setbacks.
“I know my body a lot better now than what I did in previous years,” Wood said.
“It comes down to how I structure my week in the pre-season; a bit more high-intensity running.
“I feel like we’re getting everything done that we need to do in the gym, but the difference in intensity between the games and training is the gap that we need to bridge.”
Despite re-injuring his hamstring against St Kilda in Round 23, Wood insists it was very minor and it won’t impact his workloads over summer.
“It’s about trying to get as much continuity leading into the pre-season as possible,” he added.
“I’ll have a really strong brace over the next eight to ten weeks we have off, and come back in ready to go.
“We don’t need to be firing on cylinders, but have the body in a really good position to make it through pre-season.”
Listen to Mason Wood's full In Review podcast here:
