THE IDEAL 32nd birthday present for veteran Adelaide midfielder Sam Gibson will be to retain his spot in the Crows' side for Sunday's top-four clash with Melbourne in Alice Springs.
Gibson is eager to make up for lost time after a hamstring injury on the eve of the Crows' round one clash with Essendon forced him to miss the first eight weeks of the season.
He was set to be eased back through the SANFL before he got the late call-up to replace an injured Matt Crouch for last Friday night's 37-point rain-soaked win against the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval.
"Any opportunity at my age to lace up the boots and go and play footy is a good day," Gibson told AFL.com.au.
"I came over here to play footy and hopefully to play at the pointy end of the year.
"There's still a lot of footy to be played.
"It's nice to be back, feeling fresh and ready to attack the back-end of the year."
Gibson, who turns 32 on Sunday, was surprisingly delisted by North Melbourne at the end of last season after playing 130 consecutive games.
The Crows jumped at the opportunity to add an experienced midfielder to their list, picking up Gibson at the end of the NAB AFL Trade Period to extend his career.
He was on track to continue his ironman streak and debut for the Crows in the round one game with the Bombers, but injured his hamstring the day before the Friday night encounter at their training session at Casey Fields.
It was diagnosed as a low-grade strain that would keep him out for one to two weeks but the recovery took longer than expected.
"It was frustrating and there were a few complications that allowed for it to push out," Gibson said.
"Our approach to the injury stuff now is that it's all behind us.
"I'm feeling fresh and feeling good.
"Hopefully having had the rest to the start of the year, I'll be fresh for the back end of the year."
Gibson finished with 20 disposals, including 11 contested possessions, to go with eight tackles and five clearances against the Bulldogs.
He was also given the unenviable task of trying to contain prolific midfielder Jack Macrae.
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The Brownlow Medal chance shook off the tag to have 36 disposals, including 25 contested possessions, 13 tackles and 10 clearances.
"I tried to get to him at stoppages and he's a really good player because he stays on the move," Gibson said.
"When you keep on the move and get to the right spot, you're a good chance to get the footy, and that's what he does really well."
