The hard-running defender made his return in the VFL with affiliate Werribee on Saturday, sparking talk of a potential call-up against the Crows.
But after 18 weeks on the sidelines, Macmillan is only concentrating on the things he can control.
“I’ll just bide my time and try and get my fitness up, and that’s about all I can do at this time of year,” he said on Monday.
“If it comes (a recall) it comes, and if it doesn’t, hopefully the boys can play really well and win a couple of finals.”
PRESS PLAY above to watch the Jamie Macmillan update | YouTube
Macmillan picked up 27 disposals for the Tigers in his first outing since Round 3, playing most of the match in defence. It was an encouraging performance after such a long spell.
“It was a little bit of a shock to the system early… (I) blew up about the four minute mark of the first quarter, but settled in after that and played out the whole game which was good.
“I thought I’d forgotten how to play footy early on. I was a little bit rusty early and fumbled a few balls, lapses on running to the right spots and that sort of thing. As the game wore on you get your confidence back and I slowly but surely, found my feet.”
While he would have liked to make his return earlier in the year, it could be the perfect timing heading into September.
Macmillan is confident his body will hold up and was even a little surprised with his progress.
“I felt pretty comfortable, especially in the last half I thought I’d run out of gas a little bit more than what I did,” he added.
“I was so sore yesterday after the game, but it was actually a good feeling being sore. I haven’t had that general sort of soreness for 18 weeks.
“I was just rapt to be back out there playing. When you are around a footy club for 18 weeks not playing it gets pretty hard, so it was good fun.”
The return of another defender could provide a selection headache for North’s match committee, with its back six already in fine form.
For Brad Scott, it’s a rare luxury in a season where injuries have had a big impact.
“I haven’t spoken to him (Scott) yet. I didn’t want to bother him yesterday, I think he had bigger things on his mind than how I went the day before,” Macmillan joked.
“I’ll catch up with him at some stage in the week and see what his thoughts and what he thinks I need to do and we’ll go from there.”
