North Adelaide midfielder Memphis Webb is certain in his answer about when he returned to his best after an ACL rupture.
"The last quarter of Round 10 against West Adelaide. We had the game won already, I thought I may as well give it a good crack so I took it on a little bit more, flew for my marks and felt confident," Webb told Zero Hanger.
"I carried that into the champs the next week. Before that I just felt a bit slow."
Webb feeling "slow" makes sense, given he was carrying significantly more muscle. The most striking feature of Webb when you see him in the flesh is his imposing size. He stands at 183cm but has a frame strengthened from a big year in the gym while sidelined.
That match was his fifth match back from a 12-month stint on the sidelines and set him up for an Under-18s National Championships where he was arguably South Australia's best midfielder, reinforcing his AFL Draft credentials as a powerful and hard-running contested ball-winner.
He was named South Australia's Most Valuable Player for the first game, providing spark in a misfiring midfield, and finished brilliantly against Vic Country, lifting South Australia to a one-point win and standing up with the game on the line.
He averaged 25 disposals throughout a carnival where he answered the key knocks on his game.
Those around Webb will tell you 2026 hasn't so much been a breakthrough year, but rather a continuation of the upward trajectory he has been on since a promising Under-16s season, with last year's absence merely a punctuation.
Former North Adelaide coach Mitch Clisby was one of many singing his praises early in 2025 before the knee injury cut his season short.
"When I got the news about the injury, it was pretty hard," Webb said.
"Then probably for the first week and a half, it wasn't great. But I got into surgery pretty quick. After surgery, I locked into rehab and that whole journey, I kind of took myself completely away from footy, which I think was really good for me.
"Like if I did another long-term injury, I'd do the same thing. Just take myself away, and it kind of allowed me just to find new things to do and not focus on footy and dwell on the fact that I wasn't playing.
"Now when I'm playing footy, it's like my first time. Like I'm a little kid again and going out and playing, it's awesome.
"When I need to put my footy brain on at trainings and games (I do), but outside of that, I try to be pretty relaxed and just not think too much about footy, which definitely has held me in good stead."
Entering the year as a clean stoppage-leaning player, Webb's burst to find space out the front of stoppage and his effective kicking have gone to another level, having both been areas of improvement at the start of the year.
Speaking to Zero Hanger last month, South Australia forward and MVP Jack Slattery noted how good a kick inside 50 Webb was. The kicking and burst have given his game an important balance in an era where old-school in-and-under players are falling out of vogue.
"I'm pretty confident in my kick, and I can take the game on a bit more. And obviously, I'm still going to make mistakes, but it's at the point now where if I make a mistake, I know the next one I'll make up for it," Webb said.
"When I play golf, I've got cues for my swing, and it's the same with my kicking now."
Those skills have lifted him to 37th in Craft of the Draft's latest Power Rankings, and while that is perhaps a touch earlier than the consensus view, his strong champs, which have been backed up by sterling Talent League form in recent weeks, have him firmly on the radar.
Webb also got a run at reserves level late in the year and competed well, proving his physicality could match it with the bigger bodies.
Having played virtually all his representative footy as a midfielder this year, Webb is confident he has traits he can transfer across the field.
"That balance has definitely been a big focus. There's obviously there's going to be games where it's a lot more congested, and I also find if I'm struggling to impact a game, I'll go back to that inside game just to get myself involved," Webb said.
"But then after that, like I enjoy getting on the outside, getting a bit of run, and trying to use my foot skills and get other teammates involved in that way.
"I'm open to playing wherever, I'm not really trying to think too far ahead of where I'll be. The goal is just to get on a list right now, and then whatever they see best fits me, I'll buy in 100% to whatever they want."
