JACK Watts says his return against the Western Bulldogs at Eureka Stadium felt “like my first game”.

After overcoming a groin injury in the pre-season, the talented Demon played his first match of 2015 in Melbourne’s seven-point NAB Challenge win – coming on in the second half, after starting as a substitute.

“I was pretty excited. It’s been a long, tough pre-season for me because I’ve been struggling with groins and a few other little issues,” he told Dee TV.

“To finally get out there with the boys – they’ve been playing some pretty good footy – it was great fun. In saying that, I came on in the third quarter and it didn’t go so well after that.

“I felt fit and strong and ready to go for the season.”

Watts was full of praise for his side’s first half after the Dogs, when it led by 32 points at the main change – after leading by 52 points during the second term.

“We had a really good first half. I was sitting on the bench watching and the boys were on fire. There was composure with the footy and there were contests we were winning,” he said.

“The second half started all right and then we let them get in the game and probably fell away … but overall it was a good game.

“It’s a bit sour to let them get back to within a goal or eight points, but at the same time, we don’t want to lose all of the good things we did. We were totally in control in that first half and we’ll look back on that and see what we were doing and see what it takes to get that dominance.”