After more than 20 months between appearances, St Kilda ruckman Billy Longer has described his re-emergence onto the AFL landscape last weekend as ‘such a great feeling’.
Having not played since Round 20, 2015, the 23-year-old replaced Tom Hickey against Geelong at Etihad Stadium and made an encouraging return against Zac Smith and Mark Blicavs, finishing with 29 hitouts and 39.6 pressure points - sixth most of any Saint.
“It was honestly such a great feeling to be out there again,” Longer told saints.com.au on Thursday night after playing his first senior game in 617 days against Geelong last Sunday.
“Playing footy with the Saints is something that has been driving me for a long time now, so to be able to get back out there with a few of my good mates and with a team I’ve been training with for a long time now was great on the weekend.”
Longer, who was taken by Brisbane at pick No. 8 in the 2011 National Draft before being traded to Linen House Centre at the end of 2013, said he was driven over the off-season and summer months to return to the senior side after being dethroned by Hickey in 2016.
“Over the off-season and pre-season I was very thirsty to get back in. I guess that drive and want to play footy again at the highest level has been something that has been driving me for a long time now,” Longer said.
Longer admits he has learned a lot from the last couple of years. He has become far more diligent with his preparation and with his training form. And the results have followed.
He made inroads on the track over the summer, then across the JLT Community Series and in then in the VFL during the early stage of this season. Now, he has made it back into the senior team and has returned with a far more professional edge to his game.
“It more instilled the things I need to work on and the things I need to continually practice. I’ve found that the more I train at that high intensity, and for me my focus is on aggression and follow up and hands in tight, it comes out in the way I play,” he said.
“I found if I went away from doing the little things all the time I could tell that I was just a little bit off.
“It’s been a really good learning experience for me the last couple of years. I’m figuring out what I need to do to make sure come game day I know I’ve ticked off every box with my preparation and I can go out there without any worries.”
