JARRYD Blair is still haunted by his performance in last year's Grand Final defeat that saw him out of the game at three-quarter time, but is determined to turn it into a positive.

The 21-year-old Collingwood forward managed just three possessions in the 38-point loss to Geelong and was him subbed off in favour of Alex Fasolo at the final change.

He watched the rest of the game from the bench as the Magpies' chances to win back-to-back flags slipped from reach.

After playing in a premiership 12 months earlier in just his 12th senior game, Blair had hit rock bottom on both a personal and team level.

"It was tough. Personally, I just didn't perform the way I would have liked," Blair told AFL.com.au at the Pies' February Australia Post AFL Community Camp in Wangaratta.

"Even if I had, to lose a Grand Final is pretty shattering.

"The year before was the ultimate high and then you experience the complete opposite the following year. It's not something you want to happen again because it's not a nice feeling.

"You go through a full pre-season and through the season to win the Grand Final, and then to do it again and come that close … it's frustrating."

After the dust settled on the Pies' missed opportunity, the avid surfer travelled to Sumatra to catch a few waves before spending a few weeks at home in Wonthaggi "to get away from it all".

Still, the memory of his performance lingered.

"Even now, it eats you up a little bit at times when you put a bit of thought into it," he said.

"I didn't play the way I would have liked and didn't contribute to the side and we lost.

"I didn't so much go soul-searching, but it does add extra motivation for another season."

Blair returned from his break to attend his second altitude camp in Arizona, something he got plenty from as he knew what was coming and how to best to attack the opportunities on offer.

As a result, his fitness began to improve. He ran a 2km trial in a personal best time before Christmas, and his 300m efforts "weren't too bad either".

He sat down with new coach Nathan Buckley and told the former club champion he wanted to challenge himself by pushing into the midfield.

"He's pretty keen to have as many blokes go through there as possible to take the workload off Bally and Swanny and Pendles," Blair said.

"It's pretty exciting, because there will be an opportunity there if you're ready to go, and hopefully it does happen."

After taking over the midfield during the off-season, assistant coach Robert Harvey has a few players who are attempting to move up the ground and break away from more specialised roles.

Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams also want more midfield time, and with Blair have shown not only potential to take on the challenge but also the ability to thrive on it.

"Jarryd, being a smaller player, has to work on some specific things, which he's really doing," Harvey said.

"His ability to run and spread both ways is really good so I think he's a really good chance to become a good inside midfielder because he's got that inside and outside.

"Those three guys, if they can really work on what they've got to work on, and there's really clear areas for all of them as midfielders to work on, I think they can become regular fixtures."

Until recently, Blair hadn't missed a beat since the group came back ahead of the December trip to the US.

He has been hampered by groin soreness for the past few weeks, which saw the Pies take the cautious approach and keep him from their NAB Cup opener against the Western Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney last Saturday night.

He was also on a restricted schedule when the Pies trained at Wangaratta Showgrounds this week.

"Especially at this time of year, you're not really trying to prove anything and you want to be right to go round one and for the rest of the season," Blair said.

"You don't want to end up with OP or another injury.

"It's probably an indication of the pre-season that we've had and it's been pretty solid but it's settled down pretty quick and I should be right to play Melbourne next week."

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.