AFTER suffering a nasty leg break against Carlton in round 20 last year, James Strauss returned to play his first football match for Casey last weekend. He spoke to melbournefc.com.au’s Matt Burgan about his journey and his first match back from injury …

You played your first match last weekend - your first since breaking your leg against Carlton in round 20 last year. How did you feel in the build up?

JS: I was a bit nervous and I didn’t sleep too well in the lead-up. But then, running out on the ground, I felt pretty calm and collected. When I got my first kick away - it wasn’t a great kick - it was good to get it and be out there playing footy.

How does it feel to know you’ve got your first match under your belt?

JS: The body pulled up well, which is what I was looking for first thing. I just want to back up this week and do a little bit more. Hopefully I won’t be as rusty as my first game back, and I’ll keep improving.

It was a nasty leg break. What was your journey like coming back from the injury?

JS: Everyone says it’s a quick journey, but when you’re in rehab for six months, it doesn’t go that quickly. But what I did to get back, and what the medical staff and coaches told me to do, was to take my time with my comeback. They said to take it day by day, so that’s what I’ve done to get me here today.

What’s your recollection of the incident?

JS: I went into shock pretty quickly. After I spoiled the ball, I didn’t really know why I was on the ground. After I figured out what had happened - and it was pretty painful - I was in shock. I got into the rooms and the doctors gave me the green whistle, but it didn’t really work, so they tried to inject me with a drug to calm me down. It was pretty painful.

You’ve come back in a short space of time, given the severity of the injury. Has that been surprised you or the medical staff?

JS: The surgery I had happened soon after I broke my leg, which helped. The surgeon - Andrew Oppy - was really positive with everything. He wanted me to get out there as soon as I could. When I broke my leg, I snapped it really clean, so there were no bone fragments floating around in my leg. I had to start off walking, and then go for a run. Once I passed through each stage, I moved onto the next thing as quick as I could, so that was good.

Did you have any self doubts from the injury?

JS: When I trained for the first time with the boys when I came back, I had to spoil, jump and land, and I thought about that a fair bit. I wondered if I was going to land properly or break my leg again. I spent a good two or three months in the pre-season jumping and running and making sure everything was correct, so when I played on the weekend, I was going out with 100 per cent confidence. If there was any doubt in my mind or the physios or doctors, then I wouldn’t have played.

You’ve had a frustrating run with injury since being drafted - how have you coped with that?

JS: You get little setbacks like my shoulder in my first year and a few other injuries, but I’d rather break my leg than do my knee. They have a longer recovery, and I feel for blokes like Gawny (Max Gawn) and Spence (Jake Spencer), who have been in rehab for 12 months, so I know what they’re going through.

You started to show your wares as a rebounding defender. Is that the type of role you want to forge in the long term?

JS: I’d love to go back to where I was last year, and build on the [consecutive] games. Hopefully I’ll be more confident in myself, and I know that I can improve at that level, so I’ll take confidence from last year.

Stringing nine consecutive matches together last year - what did that do for your confidence?

JS: I know that I’ve played at that level for nine games in a row, so I just want to get back there and play as many as I can. I just want to keep showing them what I can do.

What are your immediate plans, and for the season proper?

JS: I’m not really sure. My fitness will probably be the thing that holds me back - other than performance. At the moment, I need to get some match fitness and play a half on Saturday or three quarters this week and then hopefully the full week, the week after. It depends on how I pull up, but so far so good.