BACK in the game, Paddy Ryder couldn't be happier.
It's an amazing story - after being left in the wilderness and away from his footy club for a full season, Paddy was back playing real footy on Saturday against the Swans.
And he was deadly in the ruck - his tap work to the hungry hands of Ollie Wines, Brad Ebert and newbie Sam Powell-Pepper a sight for sore eyes.
It's one step at a time for Ryder, who admitted having a tough time of it in the third quarter, but he's definitely a happy camper on the back of the Power's 28-point win tonight.
Paddy's relief at finishing his first game was abundantly clear when interviewed by Cam Mooney on Fox Footy after the final siren.
Choosing a profanity to describe that relief in that interview, he was more contrite the morning after when we spoke to him again.
"It was definitely a relief to get back out there, I'm just sorry to everyone I couldn't think of another way to describe how I was feeling!" Ryder said.
Listen to our full post-game interview:
