THIS time last year, Chris Tarrant was in limbo.

The Collingwood defender had told Fremantle, his second club, he would not seek to have his contract extended and wanted to return to Victoria for personal reasons.

He wasn't sure who would pick him up and give him a chance to add to the 233 games he had accumulated to that point, and was merely relying on his personal confidence he still had something to give to whoever provided him a new home. 

"Playing at Collingwood was probably furthest away [from my mind]," he said this week.

"I knew I was coming back to Melbourne to play football because I thought I still had a lot to offer some club.

"When Collingwood were interested, it was the only club I wanted to play for, there's no doubt about that."

His return to his first club was made official on the final day of the October trade period when the Pies dealt with Fremantle, securing Tarrant for draft selections No.44 and 56, which were later used by Freo for Viv Michie and Josh Mellington.

Up until then, the thought of adding to the seven finals he had played in, and potentially running out for a third Grand Final appearance after playing in the Pies' losing deciders in 2002 and 2003, was simply a dream. 

This week, the Victorian - who turned 31 on Sunday - has had a brief chance to reflect on just how lucky he has been to return to the club he first loved, and play a part in its campaign to win back-to-back flags for the first time since 1935-36.

"This is what I've wanted to do, come back to play finals and try to win a premiership, and it's a position I'm lucky to be in," he said.

"Personally, I'll leave it all out on the ground this weekend and fingers crossed it turns out okay."

Tarrant's September campaign got off to a shaky start when a rolled ankle in the Pies' 96-point round 24 loss to Geelong left him in grave doubt right up until the Friday night qualifying final against West Coast.

Since, there have been no worries. He felt fine in the 20-point win over the Eagles, and is now more than ready to face Hawthorn on Friday night in the preliminary final. 

"It was a bit of an effort to get up for that game but I've pulled up really well and I got through the game no worries and I've trained well since then," he said.

"I feel great. I've had a rest five weeks ago now and the body feels really good."

Operation Stop Lance Franklin was the topic Tarrant fielded most questions about during the Pies' open media recovery session at St Kilda Sea Baths on Monday, before it was revealed the Hawthorn goal-kicker was suffering from a stomach bug.

Tarrant, who played on Buddy earlier this year in round 15 and kept the spearhead to one goal, also said he wasn't guaranteed to start on the two-time Coleman medallist, with All Australian centre half-back Ben Reid in the mix.

"It's going to be one of us. We don't know because Ben and I swap around opponents a fair bit," he said.

"We do work well together in the sense that I might take him for a little bit and then he might take him for a little bit.

"I'm not sure which way they'll go with that yet but we'll have our main session on Thursday and we'll probably find out then, and we'll take him as any other opponent.

"You get asked about Buddy most of the time, and that's fine; it's the nature of the beast and he attracts a lot of attention. We'll put some time and effort into him, like we would with anyone else."

Tarrant had plenty of praise for young teammate Reid, who will return to the line up after missing the first final with groin soreness.

He said the 22-year-old premiership defender had caught his eye more than most when he returned to the club late last year.

"He's really stepped up his game and he's fantastic at reading the ball in the air from opposition kicks and that's probably why he leads that area in the AFL," he said.

"He's a guy who holds our structures up pretty well so it will be really good to have him back this week."

Jennifer Witham covers Collingwood news for the AFL Website. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham