HAWTHORN veteran Michael Osborne made his long awaited return to football at Box Hill on Sunday after 11 months on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.
Osborne tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Round 7 last season and has been on the comeback trail ever since.
That trail led him to Box Hill City Oval on Sunday where he made a successful return to football for the Club’s VFL affiliate.
The Hawthorn veteran found himself in a familiar role, playing up forward for Box Hill while pushing up the ground and into the midfield.
He gathered 13 disposals and kicked two goals in a solid first hit out in almost 12 months.
Osborne revealed it was a relief to finally make his return and get through unscathed.
“It was good to get out there and have a run around in a proper game of footy, I’ve been training a lot over the last 11 months, lots of gym training and running,” he told hawthornfc.com.au
“It’s a big relief to get out there and play a game and come out of it unscathed.
“I played mainly up forward and tried to get used through the middle of the ground as that link player to get the ball inside 50 and trying to crumb the ball up forward as well.
“We aimed for about 90 minutes of game time and I would have definitely got that.”
11 months out of the game is frustrating for any player, and Osborne couldn’t wait to make his return.
The Club, however, took a cautious approach with the 30 year old, holding back his return.
“I think the fitness levels would have been right a few weeks ago but just getting into the high intensity, running and the training with skills and the change of direction stuff that your body has to get used to again,” Osborne said.
“I love the team environment – I’m not a very good spectator of sports so it was good to be back out on the field participating in it again,” he said.
Despite making a solid contribution in Box Hill’s four point loss to Port Melbourne, Osborne revealed while his disposal was rusty, his knee responded well to its first test under match conditions.
“A few of my touches were a bit rusty, but the body felt good running around out there,” he said.
“The knee didn’t give me any troubles so it was just good to get out there.
“I came up with a few niggles, but the knee has been holding up well throughout the whole rehab process, it’s just getting the rest of the body used to the conditioning, that was the main thing.”
Part of that conditioning is getting his body used to the rigors of playing football at the elite level and the bumps and bruises that come with that.
While he admits he was sore at the conclusion of the match on Sunday, he’s pulled up well from the game and will complete training this week before backing up his performance on the weekend.
“You definitely pull up a bit sorer in places you don’t usually compared to training,” he said.
“I copped a corky and a few knocks here and there but I feel relatively good.
“I pulled up really well and will be able to train this week in all the sessions which is good.”
Now, Osborne’s focus is on preparing as best he can through the VFL to get himself into a position to make his return to the senior side.
“Hopefully I’m out there soon, but we’ll see how we go,” he said.
“The boys had a good win Perth on the weekend so I’ll just get as much game time into my legs as I can and just be ready to go whenever they need me.”
