GARY Rohan is confident of his chances of returning to senior football in 2013 after he made a successful return from his long injury layoff on Sunday.
Almost 15 months since he suffered a badly broken leg on his home ground, Rohan played around 40 minutes in the second half of the Sydney Swans' reserves game against the UWS Giants at the SCG.
Used in eight-minute bursts off the bench, the popular redhead finished with 10 possessions, three marks and two goals, showing plenty of willingness to get involved in the physical play.
There are no plans for Rohan to play senior football this year and his coach John Longmire only hopes the youngster pulls up well.
But a beaming Rohan was talking up his hopes of getting back into the reigning premiers' side before the year is out.
"I reckon I could yeah," he said.
"I'll try to get the game fitness in the reserves and I'm sure I could play seniors.
"I pulled up well."
Longmire joked after the game that more of his senior players were watching Rohan in the curtain raiser than he would've liked, coming just minutes before they were due to face the Giants.
But Longmire was genuine when he expressed reservations about getting too far ahead in Rohan's return after such a serious injury.
Fremantle's Michael Barlow is one to previously admit he came back from a broken leg too quickly.
"I've just got to keep hoping that he pulls up well from these small steps forward that he takes," Longmire said.
"It was fantastic to see him running around, he looked really good, hopefully he pulls up well tomorrow and can take another small step next week.
"I'm not just saying that to take some heat off, genuinely when we've looked at some of these injuries and blokes like Barlow, it does take some time to come back.
"We're really hopeful that we've laid a good foundation for him, but that's all it is and hopefully he's able to keep going forward.
"He looked exciting today. He looked fantastic."
Coming on six minutes into the third term, a few minutes later he received a handball near the centre circle and unleashed his trademark pace, accelerating and kicking long into the forward line.
The 22-year-old's next involvement was to power out of the goalsquare and take a mark ahead of UWS defender Matt Buntine, with his set shot sailing just left of the big sticks before taking his first rest.
Two minutes later he was back on the ground, using good bodywork to outmuscle the much bigger Sam Frost and this time his set shot sailed straight through before he was mobbed by his teammates.
An umpire played killjoy, calling Rohan for running too far as he took off down the wing and took one bounce and bolted into the forward line, although admittedly it was the right call.
Late in the fourth quarter, he again took off towards the forward 50, kicking the ball over the top and getting it back from a teammate before just kicking it through under pressure for his second goal.
Very nervous before the game, Rohan said he settled quickly.
"I didn't have any expectations coming in and the coaches just said 'have fun'," he said.
"That's what I did, ran out and had some fun, grabbed the ball and took off like I usually do.
"The second half the GWS boys were cooked, so it made me look even quicker, which was good."
James Dampney is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_JD
