GETTING back into the swing of things. 

There was always going to be an adjustment period for Jacob Weitering, who has returned from the first major injury in his AFL career.

Undergoing shoulder surgery after injuring his AC joint in the early stages of Round 11, Weitering detailed what the last fortnight has been like since being back in the side.

“I think it’s certainly tough coming back after injury as most players would have experienced,” Weitering said on SEN.

“It’s actually my first time that I think I’ve spent more than two weeks out of the game with an injury.

“I’m still trying to get back to my absolute best and I’ve got some quite high standards of myself. I was a little bit disappointed with myself on the weekend, plus the team result as well: we’ll certainly try and bounce back this week.”

By admission his own harshest critic, Weitering is hoping he can be back to the form he has shown in recent seasons, noting he thought he played his best game of the year in Round 10 – the week before he was set for a stint on the sidelines.

Weitering has returned right into the thick of things, coming up against two key forwards who have been among the most reliable in the competition for over a decade.

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"It was a lesson learnt": Weitering on maturing as a team

Jacob Weitering spoke to Gerard Whateley on SEN about what the team took from the loss to Geelong and how he feeling about his return from injury.

While he didn’t get the better of Tom Hawkins on the weekend, Weitering said his confidence is starting to return after facing a few big opponents. 

“I guess the last game I played before injuring my shoulder was the Sydney game, that was probably my best game for the year,” he said. 

“When you have a reasonably major surgery and you come back in and you’re playing against your Josh Kennedys and Tom Hawkins, it’s probably not the most ideal situation. But at the same time, I was physically ready.

“I was confident in the shoulder, and to be honest, the shoulder has held up really well, it's only going to get stronger and I’m only going to get more confident as the season progresses.” 

On the Geelong game, Weitering noted that rather than dismissing the loss as a bad performance, the team could gain a lot by implementing the lessons learnt from the clash.

Coming up against the ladder leaders, Weitering said that for the Blues to get to where they want to be, seeing how a mature side goes about their business and putting that education into practice will be critical.

“It’s certainly a lesson learnt. It gave us a really good understanding a mature, well-drilled, great culture... [the Cats have] been doing it for so many years, the way they’ve been playing,” he said. 

“At the core of it, they’ve got a great game plan and guys who just do things for longer.

“We took a fair bit out of it and it’s a good lesson to learn against Geelong at this time of year rather than in September.” 

Adamant that the Blues’ system can hold up against anyone if they execute it for long enough, Weitering is confident that his side can bounce back in the remaining games of the season. 

With five games to go, the finals race has never been closer, and Weitering is excited that his side can be involved in the end-of-season hype.

 “With the way we’ve played this year and the games we’ve played in, we’ve got full confidence in our system and the way we play – as you should if you’re wanting to march towards the end of the year,” he said. 

“There are some tests coming up. We’ll take it one week at a time, the next five games are incredibly important for everyone chasing the eight at the moment.” 

With the Blues’ rise under Michael Voss only spanning 17 games so far, Weitering acknowledged that there will be some bumps in the road along the way, but that the buy-in, connection and attitude of the group is at an all-time high. 

“When you’ve got a young side, a new coach and a young system, it’s a young way of playing. We’ve had a fair bit of conversation amongst the leadership group and 'Vossy' and we’re really happy with the way we’re progressing,” he said.  

“We understand we’re going to go through some growing pains and on the weekend, that was one of them. 

“We’ve got to worry about ourselves and make sure that we have full confidence in our game plan, in the players that we’re putting on the park and trying to bank up some wins.”