West Coast skipper Luke Shuey hopes his soft tissue woes are behind him, saying his hamstring surgery and 12-week rebuild have been a total "reset" for his body and mind.
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Shuey made a successful playing return in the WAFL on Saturday, tallying 22 disposals and seven marks in 67 minutes of game time in West Coast's upset win over Subiaco.
The 31-year-old is expected to earn an immediate call-up to the Eagles' senior side for Sunday's crunch clash with the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium.
Shuey has been dogged by soft tissue injuries over the past 18 months.
He strained both of his hamstrings in a game against Essendon last year, and in his only AFL appearance this season - against Port Adelaide in round three - Shuey injured his left hamstring.
West Coast searched far and wide for answers after that setback, and they eventually decided to send Shuey in for surgery.
The premiership midfielder conceded his soft tissue troubles had started to play on his mind leading up to that comeback in round three, which came after a pre-season niggle.
He now feels confident that his body will hold up to the rigours of AFL.
"Having had surgery and 12 weeks off, I feel like it's been a complete reset, restart, rest, get fresh and go again," Shuey said.
"We really built from the ground up. About two weeks post-surgery we started doing tiny amounts of exercises and strengthening work.
"Then I built up over the last 10 weeks and I'm completely confident now.
"You put your faith in the staff and your doctors around you, but unfortunately I kept doing little calves and hammies.
"But here we are, confident that that's the last one."
Shuey said he pulled up well from his rare WAFL hit-out.
"The body went exactly how I wanted it to go," he said.
"I blew up late and felt like I was running on a treadmill at times, but I felt reasonably sharp.
"I got through unscathed, which was the main thing. I hit the amount of minutes we wanted to hit, and all the GPS data that I know nothing about all went to plan."
Shuey is one of a number of big names set to return for the Bulldogs match.
All-Australian defender Brad Sheppard will return from concussion, while Jeremy McGovern (knee), Tim Kelly (knee), and Alex Witherden (groin) could also be welcomed back.
Australian Associated Press
