“IT WAS a tough time.”

Before 2023, Lachie Fogarty’s last game for Carlton came in Round 14 last year, where he played the final minutes of the match after being activated as medical sub.

In actuality, it was well over a year between drinks for Fogarty, who featured in Round 4 of the 2022 campaign - against Gold Coast - before returning to senior level to play the very same opponent just before the 2023 mid-season bye.

The reason for that, by and large, was the off-season back surgery which Fogarty underwent. After all the work he put in to get back to this point, he doesn’t want to let go of it anytime soon.

Speaking after his impressive performance against Hawthorn which yielded 18 disposals, seven tackles and a goal, Fogarty’s response about being back in the Navy Blue jumper was clear.

“Now that I’m back playing, I’m absolutely loving it,” Fogarty told Carlton Media.

“I certainly have been enjoying being back. Being able to play footy again, being able to train every session is something I’m loving at the moment. I feel very fortunate to be back in the side.”

Fogarty was honest when asked about his journey back to this point. Whenever you hear players undergoing back surgery, it never paints a pretty picture. 

Fortunately (if you can call it that) for Fogarty, he had a contemporary in the locker room who was going through a similar thing, that being George Hewett. While it was difficult, it would’ve been even more so if he didn’t have someone there working through it with him.

“It was a tough time, dealing with the back and all that soreness. It’s been really challenging,” he said.

“I got to work with George very closely, we had surgery at a similar time. He was someone that I learned a lot off during that period, and I feel like that’s helped my footy in the last few months.”

The 24-year-old had been laboured for a while, but now he feels like he’s cracked the code.

While the temptation could’ve been there to get Fogarty in earlier given the form he was showing for the Carlton Reserves (he was averaging over 23 disposals and five tackles a game), the man himself is thankful for the time he spent working his way back.

“Earlier on, when I started playing VFL, it was about getting my body right. I feel like I’ve worked out not what I need to do each week to prepare and perform.

“I’m really clear on what my role is, playing as that small forward. I need to equalise, get back inside our forward 50 and put pressure on — the other stuff will come if I do that.”