WHEN Jackson Thurlow returned to Geelong in January, three weeks after suffering a lacerated kidney in a pre-season training accident, he was miles behind his teammates.

"I went through a stage where everything was pretty hard," the talented Tasmanian told geelongcats.com.au.

"I was sitting on the bike for 10 minutes and I was really blowing up, or I was swimming about 500 metres and finding that I could hardly breathe.

"But I think after my first month of running I started to gradually build a fitness base and really started to feel comfortable moving again."

Nevertheless, when the NAB Challenge rolled around Thurlow was still in the rehab group.

At that stage, it seemed unlikely he'd find his way into Geelong's AFL team before the halfway point of the season.

However, the 21-year-old, who is renowned at the club for his polished skills, has fought back from that adversity in brilliant fashion.

He worked so hard on the track that he was able to make a shock return to the Cats' AFL side for the round three clash with Gold Coast.

And after gathering 19 disposals and kicking a goal in an outstanding performance at Simonds Stadium, he hasn't looked back.

In the past two rounds, while playing across half-back, he has tallied a career-high 30 disposals (at 80 per cent efficiency) in the win over Collingwood and racked up another 25 (also at 80 per cent efficiency) in the loss to the Sydney Swans.

"I think it's really helped the way that the coaches and all they players had a lot of confidence in me coming back and performing well," Thurlow said.

"It seems like they've now got a lot of confidence in me and faith in my ability to use the footy. That's giving me a lot of confidence."

It pays to keep in mind that Thurlow had never tallied more than 20 disposals in the 10 AFL games he played before this season.

"I am getting looked for a little bit more," he said. "And I guess our defenders set up a lot of our attacks, which means guys like Corey Enright and Harry Taylor have to get in good spots to use the footy as we go forward, and I have been trying to do that as well."

Thurlow was among the Cats' best players in the 43-point defeat at the hands of the Swans at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

Like the rest of his teammates, he was disappointed with the result but proud of the effort, especially given the Cats lost in-form midfielder Mitch Duncan to a foot injury.

"I think we played a really good three quarters, it was just a late lapse where we really got opened up," Thurlow said.

"But they're one of the best teams in the comp. So I think we can match it with the best teams and we are good enough to beat them, we just need to get those minor lapses out of our game."

With the club battling a long injury list, Thurlow and the other inexperienced players in the team will have to step up in the coming weeks if the Cats are to remain in finals contention.

But he's confident that the young lads can get the job done.

"We have seen that guys like Darcy Lang and Cory Gregson are really playing good footy," he said.

"Myself included, I think we've taken the opportunity we've been given.

"I think it's really healthy for our club that there's a real challenge for spots in the team and there are a lot of young guys having to step up and play senior footy."

On Friday night, Thurlow will be out to continue his improvement when Geelong hosts Carlton at Etihad Stadium.

The Cats now have a 3-4 win-loss record, so a win is vital, but they won't be taking the Blues lightly, despite their recent poor form.

"They did get a little bit of a touch-up against GWS, so I'm expecting them to come out firing," Thurlow said.

"But we're going to be fired up as well after a loss. We've got a lot to prove, so it should be a really good game."