HAWTHORN forward James Sicily marked his return from injury with a stunning eight-goal performance for Box Hill Hawks on Saturday.
Sicily's haul helped his side claim a 90-point win against Northern Blues at Preston City Oval, a win which sealed the VFL minor premiership for Box Hill.
It was the 20-year-old's first match back from surgery on his left hand, and he was pleased with his return and the team's performance.
"It was good to contribute, I found the footy a bit and the hands were good… which was a bit surprising coming back from surgery," he said.
"It was a good team performance.
"All our forwards had one-on-ones, and we back any one of our forwards to beat their direct opponent one-on-one.
"I was lucky enough that most of the entries seemed to head towards me, and lucky enough to kick straight."
Six of Sicily's eight goals were from set shots, and the up-and-coming forward was quick to praise the delivery from the Hawks' midfield.
Hawthorn-listed midfielders Will Langford and Jonathan O'Rourke were also named among the Hawks' best players.
Box Hill has one more match before finals - a big game against Williamstown this week.
Sicily, who now has 25 goals from 14 VFL matches this season, hopes the team can continue its strong form.
"We’ve got Williamstown coming up this week and that’s a really hard test for us," he said.
"We had a really good game against them away last time – they’re in the top four and we’ll need to play a good four quarters again.
"Hopefully we can continue our good form and carry that deep into September."
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