GIANTS young gun Jeremy Cameron says he can’t wait to team up with fellow forward Jonathon Patton after both have enjoyed solid pre-seasons.

A hip injury forced Cameron to undergo surgery and miss the final three games of his break-out first year in the AFL.

Despite missing the end of the 2012 season, Cameron was runner up in the NAB AFL Rising Star award and was the GIANTS leading goal kicker with 29 goals in his debut year. He also finished third in the inaugural Kevin Sheedy Medal.

Patton also missed the end of the season after he underwent shoulder surgery in what was an injury interrupted debut year for the 2011 number one draft pick. He played just seven games and kicked four goals after also missing the start of the season because of knee surgery.

There is much excitement about the pair who have both worked hard on their fitness since the end of last year.

Six months after his last game, Cameron is preparing to pull the orange jumper back on to take on last year's Premiers and Carlton in the first round of the NAB Cup on Sunday.

"I can't wait to get out and start playing footy again," he says.

Cameron says he is enjoying the competitive nature of the talented young GIANTS list and working closely with Patton, who has enjoyed his first full AFL pre-season.

"I had a run in our intra-club game over the weekend. It was really good to get back in to playing because it's obviously been a long time in between games.

"It was great to have a hit out with the boys and it was really competitive. We've got a lot of really talented players at the club now including the new guys that came in from the draft.

"Johnny and I have been focusing on our set ups around the ground. We've been working together a lot and it's been great to be able to train with him for a long period of time."

If there is pressure for Cameron to perform in his second year, he's not feeling it, saying that he's excited about developing his skills but unconcerned with outside commentary on his game.

"I don't think there's too much pressure, I don't really buy in to that too much, I just do my own thing out there. When games come around I won't be thinking about that at all.

"I'm going in to the NAB Cup looking forward to getting a few more games under my belt because I haven't played football for a long period of time.

"This year I just want to string a few games together and build on everything that I learnt last year," he said.