THERE were times in the past two years when Tom Bellchambers doubted he could return to the type of form that made him one of the best emerging ruckmen in the competition several seasons ago.

Even before his 12-month doping ban last year, Bellchambers' previous two seasons – in 2014-15 – were largely interrupted by serious ankle injuries. He managed 18 games across those two seasons, but never hit the heights he had hoped, struggling due to limited pre-seasons.

His return to Essendon saw him endure another frustrating summer and more surgery, but Bellchambers is now back in Essendon's senior side as its first-choice ruckman. He's looking as fit and agile as he has since 2013, and is averaging a goal a game in his eight appearances at AFL level so far.

The 28-year-old credits his fellow banned teammates, who he trained with during their season away from Essendon, as being vital in his ability to recapture his best.

"I didn't lose faith [in myself], but the questions always go through your head about whether you can get back out there and do it. I had a couple of frustrating years with injury so those questions are always there about whether you're going to be able to get back out there," Bellchambers told AFL.com.au.

"Obviously last year there was the nine of us who were all together training. Having those guys there really helped me last year and they pushed me at the same time.

"Those question marks obviously jump into your head but you have to realise you need to make the most of your opportunities."

Bellchambers has done that this year. After a pre-season that was "stop-start" with a knee injury, he came back to football via the club's VFL side. He replaced an injured Matthew Leuenberger in round six, but was dropped after one game back in the senior side.

Then Leuenberger fell ill ahead of the Bombers' round 10 clash with Richmond, and Bellchambers has held his spot since, despite Leuenberger's solid form at VFL level. He says it shows Essendon's improved depth as it makes a tilt at this year's finals series, but acknowledges it is difficult to fit two rucks into the same side. 

"The way the game's played now it makes it hard to do," he said. "Not a lot of teams are playing two ruckmen at the moment.

"If anything, it's going the other way and you really need to be able to run and have speed in your game, so it definitely makes it difficult to play two ruckmen. In saying that, if you've got two big fellas in form it's going to help the team … it's [just] hard to have two of the similar type ruckmen playing together."

It is a far cry from when Bellchambers, Paddy Ryder and David Hille combined for a three-pronged ruck attack under former coach James Hird in 2011. That experiment was unsuccessful at the time, and wouldn't be considered now, but Bellchambers is adamant it helped improve his all-round game.

"For me I came into the team when I was 19 or 20 years old and I had to try to make it as a forward," he said.

"I had Paddy Ryder and David Hille in front of me in the ruck so I had to try to learn my craft up forward a bit more and I think that's helped me as I've gone into the ruck to be able to push forward still. You can't just be a ruckman – you have to add strings to your bow and starting up forward when I was a bit younger has helped me do that."

Speaking at the launch of VicHealth's initiative to encourage footy fans to choose water over soft drinks at Etihad Stadium, Bellchambers reflected on how much had changed for him in a year.

This time 12 months ago, he was one of a group of Bombers holidaying in Europe. It was an important period for them as they dealt with the fallout of their suspensions, but he's glad to be back out on the field. 

"It's gone super quickly. We're at round 18 and it feels like it's flown for me and it feels like that was a long time ago. We had a great time over there together and it brought the group closer together," he said ahead of the Bombers' clash with North Melbourne on Saturday.

"We've got six weeks left in the season and we really need to make that count now. Going off our last couple of weeks we're in pretty good form."