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ANGUS MONFRIES is back and, at least in his first game, firing.
Returning to play a footy game in anger 609 days since his last appearance, Monfries came away pretty positive.
Monfries, like teammate Paddy Ryder, missed all of 2016 serving a ban as part of the Essendon supplements saga.
But 31 disposals, 11 marks and three inside-50s in Port’s win over the Crows in the SANFL, and Gussy looks as though he hasn’t missed a beat.
“It was good to get out there again and have a kick of the footy,” Monfries told portadelaidefc.com.au after the game.
“Although we started off slowly, we built into the game well and finished off with a good win.”
The 30-year-old played most of the game on the wing, and looked comfortable playing that role.
“Chad [Cornes] came to me and said he wanted me to play through the wing,” Monfries
“So I played the majority on the wing, it was good to get around the ball and find a bit of space and to help out our backline.”
Overcoming hamstring and shoulder issues from the pre-season has been an unwelcome setback for Monfries, but his hard work in the pre-season has given him a base to return strongly.
Completing extra running post-game on Saturday to meet his match quota given the restrictively sodden deck at Woodville, Monfries is feeling good.
“The body feels really good, obviously had some shoulder and hammy issues, but the fitness staff have worked really hard and put in a good base for me to hopefully build on,” he said.
Port Adelaide plays Sturt in the SANFL on Sunday 7 May at 2.10pm at Alberton Oval.
