LEADER Colin Garland says he was thankful coach Paul Roos never put any pressure on him to return quickly to the senior side, when he was sidelined with an ankle injury early in the season.

Garland did not play his first match of any sorts until mid-April this year, when he returned via the VFL Development League. After his one appearance at that level, he played three games in the VFL seniors, before returning to the AFL in round eight against the Western Bulldogs.

He has since played the past three matches and has relished returning to a side on the rise.

“It was pretty tough coming in a bit later,” he told Dee TV.

“My ankle injury took a bit longer than everyone expected to take, but it’s good to get back in.

“I’m over the injury now, which is good, so it’s been really enjoyable, the first couple of weeks being back in the side.”

Garland conceded it had been a difficult pre-season with his ankle injury. 

“I was training prior to Christmas, but I wasn’t running the way I normally run. My agility was suffering a bit and the position I play – on medium, tall and small forwards – it’s hard enough on two legs, let alone one,” he said.

“Mid-January, we decided to get the ankle scoped, which took a bit longer than expected, but I ended up playing [VFL] Development League – and I’d never played in the VFL reserves before – so it was an early start and it was [like being] back in under 18s footy. I actually enjoyed it a bit, because there were a lot of young guys down there from Melbourne and Casey.

“Then I played some Casey games, which I hadn’t done before, so while it was frustrating, Roosy never put any pressure on me to come back straight away – even though the start of the year was pretty tough, watching a couple of losses and we weren’t playing the way we wanted to.

“I could still enjoy my footy at Casey and I probably needed that three or four games to get my match fitness back, because I hadn’t trained for 10 weeks.

“I think I was handled really well in the end.”