AARON vandenBerg says he never doubted he would return to play at the highest level.

Speaking upon his arrival for Melbourne’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG on Sunday, vandenBerg said he “definitely” thought this day would come. It will be his first AFL match since round 23, 2016, after a heel/ankle injury forced him on the sidelines.

“I had Jesse [Hogan] in the car with me, so I just chewed the fat and relaxed [coming to the ground],” he told Melbourne Media.

“It’s nice that it’s finally come along. I always believed I could get back and play some good AFL footy and hopefully that’s the case.

“You definitely question whether it’s worth it at times, but once I made my mind up that I wanted to play – then I usually try and fulfil that.”

Although Melbourne starts as strong favourites against the Suns, vandenBerg said the Demons weren’t taking this match lightly.

“Gold Coast are no pushovers, as you saw a couple of weeks ago, when they beat Sydney, so we’re going to bring our best footy today and the rest will take care of itself,” he said.

“The comp is extremely tight as we saw yesterday (Saturday).

“We’ll worry about one week at a time.”

vandenBerg expects to play up forward, given the absence of Jake Melksham with a hamstring injury.