Mission accomplished for season 2019, Mark Walsh is eager to sink his teeth back into the TSL.
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A three-time premiership player with North Launceston, the 26-year-old was one of several gun Bombers who helped lead Hillwood to their first NTFA senior flag since 2000 in September.
Having departed for the Sharks with Tom Bennett and Jake Pearce, the Technical Forest Services employee has returned to UTAS Stadium alongside Bennett, ex-Bomber Nathan Pearce and 2017 NTFA league best and fairest Dan Withers.
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The Lilydale junior said his one-year stint at Hillwood, where he also spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons, had been the perfect breather from the state's top-flight league.
"It was good to get back and help Hillwood out and help the club out more than anything," Walsh said.
"A lot of people have been there years and years and haven't seen anything, so after the grand final the emotion about how many old people came up to you and said 'thankyou so much' ... that was probably the most enjoyable thing, seeing those sort of people and their faces.
"And the players as well - Nathan's been there for five or six years and they've been close but not close enough, so that was more the factor to go back and help out."
One of North Launceston's best in the 2017 grand final with three goals in a huge win over Lauderdale, Walsh will slot straight back into his no. 4 guernsey, recently vacated by South Launceston assistant coach Jordan Tepper.
Walsh also hopes to reclaim his spot in the North Launceston midfield.
"Josh Ponting is a massive loss so [hopefully I'll be] playing that midfield role as an in-and-under player which I enjoy," Walsh said.
"But if I have to go back and play on a half-back flank I don't mind doing that as well, wherever Taylor [Whitford] needs me I'll float around and hopefully get a kick.
"It feels like I haven't even left really - the boys have welcomed us back right in and its been a pretty solid pre-season.
"Your body grows now so you hit 26 and you're used to pre-seasons, so it's been really good, I'm looking forward to getting into it."
Pearce has spent the past five seasons at Hillwood having played senior football at North Launceston and his hometown NTFA outfit East Coast before that.
Like Walsh, the 24-year-old glazier is an in-and-under midfielder who is happy to play anywhere on the ground.
"I just thought I'd give it a go - come back and have another crack at the top level," Pearce said.
"A few people have come back from Hillwood obviously and thought I'd just join.
"The first three years [at Hillwood] were pretty hard and the fourth year we picked up a few and got a bit better and last year we just got a good group of players and had a strong coaching base behind us and got through the season well."
Eventually, Pearce hopes to finish up his career at East Coast and take a sideways step into coaching.
But first, the Hillwood 2018 captain and best and fairest winner has plenty of top-flight football ahead of him.
"If I just play seniors I'll be happy with that," he said.
"[TSL training] is a bigger workload than what it is out there, but it does break it up a little bit when you got to the gym and do a few fun activities on a Thursday night."
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