But luckily, there was light at the end of the tunnel and on Wednesday all his hard work and patience paid off with North medicos giving him the green light to trainwith the rest of the group for main skills.
"It's been tough on the sidelines. You try put on a happy face at the club but you have your ups and downs. You get frustrated with your body," McIntosh told kangaroos.com.au after getting through the one and a half hour session unscathed.
"You are pretty separated from the group when you're in rehab, you have your own timetable and you're not around and interacting with the other guys like normal."
Surgery to both achilles tendons has meant a cautious rehabilitation process, but now it's full steam ahead.
"I pulled up really well after my first session back. It was good to get out there with the boys again and have a kick.
"I was a little bit nervous just because I haven't been out there in so long, I had to get used to training and decision making again. I felt a little bit like a deer in headlights but it was good to be out there and eventually I'll get back in to the swing of things.
"You just take one session at a time to keep improving and get a bit of form back.
In the absence of the club's number one ruckman, Todd Goldstein has stepped up.
"With Goldy last year we started to build a nice partnership and had a good impact on games together. Hopefully this year we can build on that and become one of the best ruck partnerships in the league and also have an impact forward kicking a few goals."
Although an exact date hasn't been set for McIntosh's AFL return, he will be playing his first game in the VFL for Werribee next Sunday.
"First things first, I need to get my body right after being out of the game for so long. Once I'm getting through on a week to week basis, improving on my form and match fitness then I can put my hand up for senior selection in the not too distant future.
"I'm looking forward to playing my first game next week and hopefully avoid injury for the rest of my career...that would be nice."
