Meet the kid the scouts have started calling 'Mr Upside'.

Charlie Comben hadn't played much footy before this season. That wasn't his choice, it was something forced upon him by a cruel and unavoidable string of unfortunate injuries.

But when the 199cm key forward finally returned to the park earlier this year and began to get some much-needed game time under his belt, his raw talent and sheer athleticism came to the fore.

Comben himself admits that he didn't grab every match by the scruff of its neck. Given the interruptions he's been forced to endure over the last three seasons, such inconsistency can be forgiven.

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But he did show enough to ensure he caught the eye of recruiters, with his marking and running ability from the forward line sparking the imagination of clubs in terms of what he could one day become.

"I always knew I had it," Comben told AFL.com.au.

"It was just reaching those expectations that I'd put on myself. I probably lay dormant for a little bit, missing a lot of time through injury, so having a good run at it this year has been good.

"I saw a lot of rapid improvement over the first few rounds, then to play well over the Champs was a good experience."

Such is his devastating injury history, the fact Comben even had the willingness to return to the field at all this season is a testament to his courage.

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As a 15-year-old, he played eight games before breaking his wrist. He returned, only to break his collarbone later in the season.

The very next year he describes as "his worst year". He severely broke two parts of his inner cheekbone playing for the Gippsland Power, forcing him to spend more than half the season on the sidelines after having surgery.

He eventually returned in May 2018, but not for long. Playing basketball at school, Comben landed awkwardly in an incident that left him with a broken tibia, a fractured knee cap and a dislocation of his knee cap.

Repeated dislocations upon return resulted in yet more surgery and yet more time out of action.

"It's been a long road back, but it's made me a better footballer," Comben said.

"You do get a little bit nervous in those first few games coming back, but once you're out there the atmosphere takes over and you tend to forget about those type of things."

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In among the seemingly endless stints of rehab, the idea of simply letting go of his football dream flooded Comben's thoughts. But never for long.

"Giving up does cross your mind," he said.

"I found last year in particular very frustrating, not being able to do exactly what I want to do or play footy at any level. It was quite frustrating, but I kept that mindset of having a clear goal to get back to footy and I was able to work towards that.

"It does cross your mind, but giving up was never something I genuinely considered."

Comben sees himself as a key-forward at the next level, but able to pinch-hit through the ruck. However, he admits that he may have to rely more on his athleticism in a ruck role, rather than test his still slender 82kg frame to go up against the bigger bodies.

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At NAB League level, he's shown he can play both positions effectively. He demonstrated his forward craft with a three-goal game against Tasmania in July, while a performance against the Calder Cannons in May yielded 18 disposals and 22 hitouts from the ruck.

However, it's not necessarily the numbers that have defined Comben's year. Rather, it's been the moments. Those moments were perhaps best delivered for Vic Country throughout the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

Indeed, Comben therefore credits his Vic Country coach Leigh Brown – who himself reinvented and then perfected the ruck-forward role at AFL level – as a driver behind his improvement.

Brown, in turn, thinks Comben can now replicate that success in the AFL from season 2020 and beyond.

"He had a growth spurt and he's got elite hands, which means he can mark the footy," Brown told AFL.com.au.

"He can play forward, he can play through the ruck. At the next level, he'll probably pinch-hit through the ruck. You can see him playing that Esava Ratugolea role, where he'll play mainly forward but with a little bit of time in the ruck.

"He's athletic for a tall guy and he's got plenty of upside, given he's really raw."