The key forward's 20^th birthday falls on game day, which he hopes to celebrate with a first round road win over Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.

After a whirlwind year where he played under former AFL coach Rodney Eade at Balwyn and won a NAB League flag with Oakleigh, Sharman is keen to play for the love of it at his junior club.

"Saturday's my birthday, and I get to celebrate it by playing footy," he said.

"The team is pretty similar (to 2018), and a lot of my mates from school have come back from Victoria as well. It will be awesome to suit up and play with them.

"We have that benefit that we're not all different recruits coming from all sorts of places. We're familiar with each other so it should hold us in real good stead.

"With this year only having half a season of footy, just coming back home and having fun is the main focus.

"That's all I've been missing lately is playing footy, at the moment I don't really care where I'm playing and I'm pretty grateful I can come back home and play for Leeton."

Sharman was set to play VFL with Coburg this year before the coronavirus pandemic put paid to those plans.

It's unfortunate timing given he narrowly missed being drafted into the AFL last year, but he isn't kicking stones.

After being told to put on some weight and improve his fitness, his mum's home cooking has been getting a workout since his return.

"I really want to go back to Melbourne, play some VFL footy and give it another crack, try and get noticed and give myself the best chance of getting drafted," he said.

"I weigh about 80kg and the feedback I got back from a couple of scouts was to get a lot fitter with my endurance, and put some size on.

"I need to put another ten or 15 kilos onto my frame the next couple of years, so I can compete as that key forward a lot better.

"I'm eating a lot more and gyms are open now, so I can really start focusing on putting that size on."

Sharman said he learned plenty working under Eade, who encouraged him to back his marking ability and compete for the ball.

"I was a bit scared and intimidated going down there but he was a really good person to talk to about anything," he said.

"He gave me the confidence to fly for my marks and really attack the footy. My first couple of games I was a bit stand-offish with some more experienced forwards there, but he gave me the confidence to do what I do best."

Sharman had only just returned to Melbourne to train with Coburg before the NSW-Victoria border was closed, turning his plans upside down.

He rushed home to Leeton in an attempt to avoid a 14-day quarantine, but it proved a moot point when the law was changed after he returned.

"I moved back down to Melbourne for one night and was planning to go back to training, then they called the lockdown the day after," he said.

"At that stage if I got home before the border shut I didn't have to isolate, but they changed that a couple of days later.

"I've just finished my 14 days isolation and am ready to get back into footy and have a kick."

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