IN completing an auspicious maiden appearance for Carlton at the MCG last Thursday night, rebounding defender Nic Newman became the 1203rd senior player to  turn out for his club – and there’ll be plenty more games one would have to imagine.

For Newman, whose running goal to the Punt Road end late in the third was a genuine match highlight, it was great to be back in the heartland.

Newman’s rookie drafting to Sydney in 2015 took the Frankston boy north of the border four seasons ago: after 31 appearances for the Swans, he’s still recalibrating.

But it meant much to him to front up to more than 85,000 people on the ground famously dubbed ‘the paddock that grew’.

“It hasn’t yet soaked in that I’m back in Melbourne,” Newman said after the season opener. “The off-season was a long one and there wasn’t much hype around it, so I haven’t yet experienced the madness around Melbourne footy.

“I started to get a feel for it the past few days and [Thursday] was pretty awesome to play in front of almost 90,000. If anything it’ll be easier for my family to head up the highway rather than having to arrange plane tickets, and that’s nice.”

That said, Newman’s time in the Harbour City wasn’t without its advantages.

“Early days it was probably good to be in Sydney to be able to focus on footy and not experience too much external noise,” he conceded.

“The blessing is that I’ve come back having just turned 26 and having had a bit of experience in the system with its ups and downs, so I know what to believe, what not to believe and that the things that really matter are between the four walls and with my friends and family.

“Being back also allows me to see my brother and my mates play local footy on a weekend, and that will be enjoyable.”

It is clear that the seasons under John Longmire’s watch have impacted positively on the player – which in turn is good for Carlton.

“I’m at an age we’re I’ve been in the system for a while, I was lucky enough to go to a club that had a great leadership and a great culture, so I just want to share those experiences,” Newman said.

“I picked up a lot of great things in my four years in Sydney from blokes like Jarrad McVeigh, Josh Kennedy and Lance Franklin . . . and I would very much like to pass on some of those experiences to the boys here because our group is so young.”

Newman’s input will no doubt be valued in the debrief of the 33-point loss to Richmond – “an interesting game with ebbs and flows” as he put it.

“We gave them a pretty good head-start and we were chasing our tails, but those second and third quarters were pleasing. To get the margin back to a couple of goals shows that we’re doing some things right. We just need to do them for longer,” Newman said.

“We’ve got to go through the review, look at what we did well and what we’ve got to improve upon, and the beauty of it is that we have ten days to recover and refresh.”