Though he boards the Arizona-bound jet at Tullamarine tomorrow, McInnes won’t be joining team members on the high altitude hike - nor Marc Murphy or Matthew Kreuzer for that matter.
“I’ll be pretty much doing what I’m doing now,” McInnes explained. “The surgeon wanted me, at nine weeks, to be able to single legpress around 80 kilograms and I’m doing 90 just a tick over the nine weeks. I’m now on the G-trainer, everything’s going sweet at this stage and I should then be able to run on grass, hopefully in the last week before Christmas.”
Though McInnes’ mishap happened in the opening seconds of that catastrophic Saturday night match at Metricon last August, it’s only recently that he’s viewed the replay.
“It was two weeks ago when I first saw the footage and you could hardly see anything, but I know that when I landed my foot stuck and I could feel the whole leg buckle,” McInnes said.
“I’d been putting the replay off. It didn’t really interest me in seeing it, but in seeing it it’s made me realise how easily it can happen. After all, you jump and land a hundred times in a game.
“In saying that, I’ll be able to build up the strength in my knee and my leg generally so it doesn’t happen again.”
Recruited to Carlton through the Dandenong Under 18s, McInnes was taken in the fourth round of the 2010 AFL draft at selection 67 - the selection relinquished by the Crows with pick 34 in the Sam Jacobs transfer.
Since sporting the No.26 guernsey into his first senior match - the 15th round contest with Collingwood at the MCG no less - McInnes impressed in eight appearances with his no-nonsense approach in the back half.
“It probably took me two games before I felt comfortable out there playing with my teammates,” he said. “I got a taste of footy and the good thing about all this is that I’m not the only player to start again. There’s 45 other players who have to start again with Mick (Malthouse) coming in.”
With first impressions usually everything, what was McInnes’ initial impressions of the new Senior Coach?
“Mick seems to me to be really genuine,” came the reply. “He just wants us to build a trust and respect between eachother and the more he talks the more he drills that into us. The same with Rob (Wiley). He’s really genuine and he just wants to get the best out of everyone.”
Though his 2012 season ended terribly, McInnes appreciates that he’s made in-roads. As he said: “The good thing is I’ve been able to string a few games of senior footy together and know I’m capable of playing at this level”.
And though he’s four months shy of his 21st birthday, he’s already seen the best and worst of it.
“The best moment was probably when the final siren sounded in my first game against Collingwood. The worst would have been the final siren in the Gold Coast game,” McInnes said.
“When the siren went against Collingwood I was pretty numb. I remember having a look around and seeing some of the boys celebrating, then looking at the crowd - everything seemed to happen so fast.
“When the siren went against Gold Coast I already knew that I’d done my knee and the season was basically over.”
As he continues to get his body right, McInnes is also pursuing an important non-football-related venture. In the new year he undertakes the first of a four-year part-time physical education course at Victoria University, together with Dylan Buckley, Frazer Dale and Pat McCarthy.
“Working towards becoming a PE teacher is something that’s really interested me,” said McInnes, whose maturity belies his tender years.
“This probably all came about because of the injury. Last year I was probably a bit slack in trying to find something outside footy, but having sustained such a major injury you come to realise just how short your stint as a player can be.”
