NEW Melbourne defender Michael Hibberd says he was rapt to have a familiar face – former Essendon teammate and close friend Jake Melksham at the club – when he joined the red and blue via the recent trade period.

Hibberd, who like Melksham missed the past 12 months through the much-publicised Essendon ban, said it was tough to initially go through the suspension.

“Mentally, it was tough to begin with – thinking of what I was going to do for the year and missing a year of footy – that was hard to deal with,” he said.

“As the time went on, I found things to take my mind away from footy.

“I did a bit of travelling and did a bit of training and hung around with friends – things that I hadn’t done previously, because of being an AFL footballer. That helped.”

Hibberd said he trained with his former Essendon teammates who were also on the sidelines and did a lot of training in particular with Michael Hurley.

“I did my own running and stuck to my rehab program that I had from the previous year, because I had patella tendonitis,” he said.

“I’ve just been building up my loads and I’ve been doing a lot of work with Michael Hurley.

“The year off, I’ve really learned to love footy more and I realised I missed it a lot and to miss a year of footy – I realised this is what I really want to do for the next however many years I’m playing. I want to put everything I have into it and that’s what I really got out of the year.”

Hibberd felt a fresh start was his best option.

“I felt it was the best fit for me and it was tough to leave all of my mates,” he said.

“You make friends wherever you go – all football clubs are the same and there are good people wherever you go. You’re all trying to accomplish the same thing.”