Refreshed, three kilograms stronger and just as potent.
Eight weeks ago, Sam Darcy's season appeared to be over.
On Thursday night, his successful return might just have provided his side with the necessary tonic to launchpad into the second half of the season.
The Western Bulldogs spearhead returned with 3.2 in the Western Bulldogs' 72-point victory over St Kilda on Thursday night.
He was welcomed back with a jubilant cheer from the red, white and blue faithful following a first-term goal, which got him rolling.
He also had a game-high five marks inside 50 and nine score involvements.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge hinted at mistreatment towards Darcy throughout the match, but wouldn't elaborate when pressed.
"He was pretty good, โDarc' โ obviously they paid him a fair bit of attention," Beveridge said.
"It's something he's going to have to deal with from week to week, I think.
"As long as he's treated like every other key forward, that's all that matters, but he fought through that. I think it's difficult when you're in so much physical contact.
"He's obviously long, and [it's difficult to] stay disciplined and [give] no free kicks away and all that sort of stuff, especially when you're not getting any yourself.
"He just needs to sort of temper that, and I thought he was pretty good in the ruck too when he went in there. So, he's had a good night, a good return."
Darcy was well supported by fellow marking forwards Buku Khamis and Aaron Naughton, with the pair combining for five goals, before Khamis was tactically substituted out at three-quarter time.
The Dogs moved to 7-6 with the Marvel Stadium win, which was set up by a brilliant aerial performance, taking nine more contested marks than their opponents and nine more marks inside 50.
"Their intercept game, they dominated the airโฆwhich has been a theme against us all year," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said.
"We're just a little bit short at either end."
The backline performance was spearheaded by Bailey Williams (17 marks) and Rory Lobb (11 spoils), with Beveridge singling out Lobb's performance in particular.
"Especially in the first quarter on (the broadcast) side of the ground, just that exit cover, he kept intercepting the ball and reading pressure, and it was good," Beveridge said.
"At least there was enough pressure in our forward line for him to read that.
"With Bailey, we play him in the backline intermittently, he plays wing a lot, he's such a selfless team player and when I said to him โhey we need you to go back this week' the only question he asked was โwhat's the rest of the makeup of the team?'
"He's not concerned about himself, so he was quite exceptional.
"With a scoreline like that and the differential in inside 50s, you're probably going to think no Western Bulldogs backsโฆare going to be in the votes, but (Rory Lobb) was outstanding.
"His intercept game, he had double-figure spoils and used the ball well.
"A lot of those saves he made were in space, not a lot of pressure on the footy, long range reads, he played an outstanding game, and he played the whole game โ he didn't come off.
"I did mention him to the boys after the game. I just thought he was outstanding."
While question marks will still linger over the Dogs' killer instincts against the best, given their poor record against top-eight sides in 2025, Beveridge's men appeared to take a step towards their DNA following a lean six weeks.
Ed Richards' emergence as one of the competition's most damaging midfielders continued, as he led the on-ball brigade, a seven-disposal, five-tackle, three-clearance first term, helping his side open up a buffer.
He finished with 24 disposals, eight tackles and seven clearances.
Richards' dominance, alongside Tom Liberatore, came on a night that St Kilda's Marcus Windhager quelled Marcus Bontempelli's impact.
The renowned tagger kept Bontempelli to just 14 disposals, while kicking a crucial goal late in the second quarter.
The Dogs skipper battled through a knock to the ribs in the second quarter but Beveridge allayed fears over its seriousness.
"Windhager is a disciplined tagger, so Marcus (Bontempelli) obviously had his hands full there," Beveridge said.
"(Windhager) did a pretty good job on (Kysaiah) Pickett against Melbourne the week before, and he's done a number of good jobs.
"Marcus still really worked through that.
"And Marcus played a really selfless game tonight. It meant other players capitalised on that.
"He made one v twos, and it means we've got an extra somewhere.
"As much as you look at the stats, and Marcus didn't knock it out of the park with quantity, he played a real skipper's team game that helped everyone else."
Jack Sinclair's 200th game was the storyline for the Saints, with coach Ross Lyon lamenting his side's inability to get it done for the milestone man who finished with 30 disposals.
After a week of intense speculation about his future, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was at his ball-winning best, gathering 31 possessions as his team's preferred distributor off halfback, but his ball use wasn't at its chiselling best.
"I thought we jumped out of the blocks pretty well, didn't take opportunities and coughed up the ball a lot for whatever reason it was," Lyon said.
"Our decision-making with the ballโฆprobably as a coaching group we've got to say โwell what's being expected and what's being delivered, there's a bit of a disconnect so (we need to) tidy up our education and train it'."
