It’s been a forgettable year for Kayne Turner, but the small forward is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel starting with a new two-year deal.

"I was probably a bit nervous after everything that's gone on this year, but the club's shown a lot of trust in me and I couldn't be happier to be here for the next couple of years," he told The Age.

Injuries aside, a serious drink driving incident in May turned his world upside down, but the 20-year-old said he’s moved on and is keen to put the past behind him.

"At the time it happened I knew I was in trouble, so I guess there was a bit of fear there. I was freaking out, worrying about what the initial consequences would be. I wasn't sure what was going to happen," he told Emma Quayle.

"I was a fair way over so it wasn't just a mistake, it was a big mistake. It's the biggest mistake I've ever made and there's obviously been some things that have come with it, like being fined and losing my licence.

"That's been massive, but still even now I think about what if something worse had happened. You play 'sliding doors' and think, what if I'd hurt myself or hurt someone else?

"The consequences would have been far more severe if that had happened, so I think about that and I couldn't be more remorseful or embarrassed about putting myself in a position like that."

"When I sat down with Geoff Walsh after it happened he didn't sugar coat anything, he touched on the opportunity I could have thrown away and he said it how it was, and it's good to be reminded of that now and then.

Turner was suspended for four weeks, after he finished rehabbing a hamstring injury, and is only a fortnight away from a return.

"People have been unbelievable and supported me a lot more than they could have. I'm really grateful for that.

"I've got the countdown clock going at the moment and hopefully everything keeps going well, but I'm feeling good at the moment and I should be playing next week or the one after that," Turner said.

"There's a few guys like me just trying to get our confidence up, and once I play my first game back hopefully that happens and I can start putting some pressure on the coaches at selection.

"People talk about how we're an old team but we have some young players starting to come through and I'm like the rest of those guys, I want to work as hard as I can and get back in as soon as I can. That's my goal, to get back in and repay a bit of that faith."