UNFORTUNATELY, I haven’t been able to play recently, due to a hamstring injury.

I remember an incident during the third quarter against Fremantle in Round Four, where I felt a twinge in my hamstring, but I kept playing on because I knew we didn't have many players remaining on the bench.

I played on in the last quarter and it felt fine, and I was able to sprint and kick from outside 50. After the match, it felt sore and tender. I was cautious and thought it was tightness in my hamstring, but I went and had a scan the following Tuesday and it showed I had a slight strain in my 'hammy'.

It was disappointing to miss the last two games, and it's been a rare occasion that I've had to watch the boys on the TV, let alone miss a game. It's actually harder to do, watch the boys on TV when you're not even a part of it and you can't even be in the rooms before the game.

I feel a bit out of it and helpless when I am watching it on TV. It's very frustrating and I'd certainly rather be playing than watching – that's for sure.

Two years ago, I missed two matches with a broken finger and the boys played in Adelaide and I also watched that on TV. That was also hard to watch back then.

Until now, I'd never received a soft-tissue injury, and it's been a slow process since the injury occurred.

I started to walk laps and the fitness staff didn't want me to complete too much. But by last Saturday I was able to walk and jog – it was nothing too hectic – while I also had physio everyday. Massages and rehab is all part of the process.

By last Monday, I was building my speed and running up, while on the Tuesday I went swimming. I had a test on Friday to see how I came up, but wasn’t right to take on Port Adelaide.

The most number of matches I've missed in one season is three games, back in 2000, but ever since I've missed just one or two matches a year.

For the game against Port Adelaide, it was great to get David Neitz and Nathan Jones back, which was great, helping us to start to having a structured team.

We've already used 34 players this season and only nine players have played every match so far this season, so that's an amazing statistic.

Therefore, our team has changed every week, especially in the opening month, when we had one guy on the bench in the last half of the match and that's why we've had the least rotations of any team in the competition.