The North Warrnambool Eagles export, 22, has enjoyed a near-perfect summer as he prepares for his fifth year as an AFL footballer.

The 2015 campaign comes on the back of an injury-marred 2014, with a broken leg in a pre-season loss to North Melbourne sidelining him until May.

He returned to play four consecutive matches mid-season but featured just twice thereafter, taking his career games tally to 33.

Smedts, selected by the Cats with pick 15 in the 2010 national draft, said the time on the sidelines was “on a personal note very frustrating”.

“I got through the whole pre-season, I thought I was in good physical shape to have a good year,” he said.

“I broke my leg in the last NAB Cup game and missed 13 games. From there I lost most of the pre-season (fitness).

“I came back in halfway through the year and didn’t have much of a fitness base. I really struggled to find some form later in the year. I was pretty tired.

“My break wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Gary’s (Rohan). I was lucky that way, but it was still bad enough to keep me out for 13 games.”

The lost conditioning meant he lost confidence in his body. But he did feature among VFL Cats’ best players five times in his last seven appearances.

“Before you knew it the season was over. Time flies and I was on a break.”

The silver lining, however, is that Smedts returned refreshed. He has completed every session and “I feel like I’m running better than I have before”.

“I’m really happy how this pre-season has gone, I feel my body has matured this year,” he said.

“I’m tolerating the sessions a lot more. I’m able to back up each day and get the most out of each session. I’m not worried about being sore.

“I’ve put on a few more kilos. I’m definitely a lot fitter than I have been before. I ran my best two-kilometre time trial the other day.

“I haven’t felt like this in a while. I’m really looking forward to the season starting, things are going really well at the moment.”

Smedts said Geelong was in good shape to push for another finals campaign. The Cats have missed finals just once in the past 11 seasons.

“We’re still really confident amongst ourselves in the group that we’re going to be strong contenders,” he said.

“We’ve drafted well and we’ve held on to some great players. We’ll definitely be thereabouts this year.”

He highlighted South Australian Cory Gregson as among the draftees to watch this season. But the coaches have been pleased with the signs from all new faces.

“They’ve all come in with great attitudes and are willing to learn. They’ve all got great attitudes. They’ve all been good.”

Smedts was among eight Cats at Derrinallum Recreation Reserve yesterday as part of their annual community camp.

He was king of the kids running a kicking drill with teammate Tom Lonergan, fielding questions from wide-eyed pupils and signing autographs.

“You always love coming back here and seeing the local clubs. It brings back memories of how you grew up,” he said.