Sam Darcy says it felt great to be back playing footy again after a significant injury layoff.

The number two pick of last year’s draft class was dealing with a foot injury when he arrived at the Kennel, spending majority of his first AFL preseason in the rehab group.

He finally broke through for his first hit out at state-league level over the weekend, and was relieved to get through unscathed.

“It was just good to get the first one under my belt – my foot got through good too which was nice,” Darcy said.

“I’ll start to build some continuity now over the next few weeks.

“I just want to build some form and some confidence back in my body – hopefully I can do that while just having fun back playing footy. That’s the main thing I reckon.”

Darcy alternated between forward and back, and despite having to overcome challenges at each end, said he enjoyed the mix of roles. 

“Playing forward was a bit tough because the ball didn’t really come down much in the quarter I played, but it was just nice seeing the game from different angles,” Darcy said.

“I didn’t mind defence either – I’m still getting used to the role but it was nice to play both.

“There were some big names playing - Hayden Crozier in defence, he was awesome and gave me a lot of advice and helped me out throughout the game which was nice.

“A few of the other boys too like Josh Schache and Jamarra – it was good to play forward with them for the first time.”

Footscray will host Gold Coast at VU Whitten Oval this Saturday morning, with the first bounce at 12.05pm.