The road back to relevancy this season has been long and complex for Brisbane ruckman Oscar McInerney amid another flag tilt for the reigning premiers.
The 31-year-old, who played in all but one — due to illness — of Brisbane’s first nine games this season, was listed out ‘managed’ for the Lions’ Round 10 fixture against Melbourne and hadn’t reappeared at senior level until last Thursday night’s win over Carlton.
McInerney was named an emergency for six games between Rounds 10 and 17 but wasn’t adjudged to be at full match fitness, nursing a “degenerative” back complaint among other hiccups.
The veteran tapster played two VFL games in mid-June to prove to coach Chris Fagan, who said last month McInerney’s absence was “definitely not” form-related, that he was ready for his inevitable senior call-up.
“It was good to get a blow in the lungs, to be honest,” he told foxfooty.com.au after returning to Fagan’s side in the Round 18 victory.
“I’ve definitely missed it. Always good to get a run out there; there’s always a bit of speed at Marvel, but good to have a blow.”
In the 37-point win over the Blues, McInerney, playing his ruck role in tandem with impressive stand-in Darcy Fort, totalled 28 hitouts and a couple of clearances from 71 per cent time on ground, having attended 63 per cent of centre bounces to Fort’s 37 percent.
In late June, Fagan told Channel Seven that McInerney’s burdensome back issue had been “causing him some problems”, adding it was “a degenerative sort of situation”; one that’s resolution was reliant on specific measures put in place by the club’s medical experts.
But the 160-gamer is staking his claim at a “really exciting time of the year” as the club pieces together its next premiership assault, sitting second on the ladder with six home-and-away games left.
“The boys have been phenomenal all year, and even though I’ve missed a little bit of footy, it’s such a great environment to come into work every day and keep chipping away and try to get back to where you want to be,” McInerney said.
“The boys have been doing a great job, and (last Thursday) was more evidence of that. We’ll just keep chipping away.”
Premiership ruckman Fort has filled McInerney’s void admirably, and it’s that form McInerney says will “make it hard” to retain his newfound spot in the side amid the ‘big boy’ months.
“What Darcy’s done in the past eight to 10 weeks has been super. He’s really solidified himself as a quality ruckman of the AFL,” he said.
“He’s going to make it hard to keep my spot, because he’s done such a great job. And that’s what you want; you want healthy competition.
“He’s doing an unbelievable job. We’ll keep fighting and see how we go.”
On whether he believes there’s scope for them to play in the same team, McInerney said: “You ask any ruckman and we say we should play two or three rucks, so it’s always going to be a biased answer, but that’d be one you have to put to (the) match committee … we’ll see.”
Post-game last Thursday, Fagan said he’d “experiment and see where we land” with regards to the ongoing ruck dynamic at Springfield, with veteran Sam Day — who missed the Blues game following the sad passing of his grandfather — also in the mix as a pinch-hitter in the middle.
“I can see it (Fort and McInerney playing together) in certain games against certain teams,” Fagan said.
“Maybe not all the time. Sam Day’s done a really good job so far … he’s got an important role to play as well, so we’re just going to experiment with that and see where we land, and it might be horses for courses.”
Ahead of Friday night’s Gabba blockbuster against the Western Bulldogs, Fagan again named Fort and McInerney in the same line-up, with Fort poised to start in the middle.
McInerney was the heartbreak story of Brisbane’s premiership triumph last September, missing the grand final win due to a dislocated shoulder.
But quizzed on a potentially enhanced personal drive to get back to the top of the mountain, given he missed out in 2024, McInerney delivered a stark AFL reality check.
“No different to any other year,” McInerney reassured of his mindset coming into this season.
“There’s still 800 AFL players who want to win them (flags), so if you come back thinking you’re any more special than anyone else, you’re going to get slapped in the face pretty quickly.
“No different to any other year, just get on the horse and get to work — that’s the same mantra throughout the year — and hopefully we can keep going, but one week at a time.”
McInerney also spoke glowingly of his relationship with Fagan and that of the club’s leadership group, especially amid his difficulties this season.
“‘Fages’ is a true leader. We saw last year his calmness, able to steady the group when we went through a bit of difficulty, but this year again, just being able to have that really cool head and lead our boys really well,” he said.
“Together with our leadership group … they just steer the ship so well and create an environment that we love to be in.
“They’ve really supported me over the past eight weeks. What a place to come and work.”
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