TOM Lee is the first to admit his pre-season wasn’t ideal.

Post-season surgery put the key forward out of action for over two months, yet the setback hasn’t deterred the 23-year-old; rather it has forced him to work harder in order to impress new coach Alan Richardson.

“I’ve missed half the pre-season with shoulder surgery and I need to keep working on regaining my fitness. It’s tough watching when they are going so well and it is pretty hard to not be involved,” Lee told SAINTS.com.au on Tuesday.

“I’m pretty keen to get back in but it’s just a matter of whether the coaches want me back in and whether I fit in with our tall players doing so well up forward. I’ll leave it up to them.”

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While the former Claremont key position player is eager to regain his senior spot after playing seven of the last eight games in 2013, he’s also aware that his goal tally, despite his best efforts, hasn’t exactly kicked the selection door down this season.
Although four majors and a handful of strong contested marks in Sandringham’s hard-fought win on Saturday had Lee feeling like he was finally making progress.

“I thought I was getting involved and felt like I had a lot more impact on the game than my stats suggested in previous games,” he said.

“But I’d get to the end of the game after collecting between four and eight touches and taking barely any marks and have nothing to show for it. So it was good to get some reward for the contest and get some confidence back with the ball in your hands.”

Stand-in Sandringham coach and St Kilda development coach Paul Hudson echoed Lee’s self-assessment in Monday’s VFL player breakdown.

“I was pleased for him because in the previous fortnight, he was competing well and playing his role in the structure, but not getting rewards in the goals column. On Saturday he showed really good leading patterns.”

The previous week Hudson laid down the challenge to Lee, and the forward responded accordingly.

“We just need Tom doing a little bit more and trying to double the amount of touches he’s getting at the moment,” Hudson said.

While his personal form pleased Lee, he was just as gratified with the 20-point victory in difficult conditions at Frankston Oval.
“We had a practice game against Frankston a few weeks ago and they embarrassed us so it was good for the boys to rebound and get one up on them,” he said.

“The conditions were very similar to the last time we played them. It was a very favoured breeze towards the ocean end and both teams played with it well but struggled against it.”

“We managed to capitalise a bit better than them and kicked straighter than what they did.”

Lee even spent time in the ruck but at 194cm, he would be surprised if this became a permanent option at either AFL or VFL level.

“I think it’s pretty unlikely that I will become a pinch-hitting ruckman, although it does add another string to my bow. But it’s good for them to know if injuries do happen on game day, then I at least can go in there and give a contest.”

For now Lee will stick to playing forward, regaining his match fitness, and forcing his way back into St Kilda’s best 22.