NIC Newman has always been a footyhead.

You only need to look at what he made of his 2020 after going down with a knee injury to see how much he loves being involved in the game.

For someone who fought so hard to break into and make it in the AFL system, last year’s ruptured patella tendon sustained in June was a cruel blow.

Newman’s journey is one of the more undersold football stories. Overlooked at draft level, Newman starred for Frankston on the way to winning the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal — awarded to the best young player in the VFL.

From there, he was drafted to Sydney, where he would battle away at reserves level for two years before getting his chance at the elite level. Come 2019, he enjoyed an impressive first season in Navy Blue after making his way from the Swans, before injury struck just minutes into the League’s return from COVID-19.

Upon reflecting on his path, it was the impact of two groups of people - his family and the football club - which allowed him to make a successful return to action on the weekend.

“It’s probably a bit unnoticed and unrewarded, the impact your family can have. It was a tough 12 months, but to be able to have my family… they’re always going to be there for me, especially my partner,” Newman said on Carlton Media's Spotlight.

“It feels like a long time ago: her delivering me breakfast, lunch and dinner when I couldn’t really do much myself — I couldn’t get off the couch.

“It’s hard when something gets taken away that you love, especially when it’s your job.

“For me, it was about being able to tell my family, my partner and even people from the football club that have been there for me and helped me.

“It’s those things that people don’t really see which are pretty huge. Hopefully I was able to give them a little bit of joy by running out there.”

It would’ve been difficult to find anyone in Newman’s position that didn’t think they were due for a bit of good luck.

In Round 1 last year, Newman played through an elbow injury which he ultimately needed surgery on. Rehabbing throughout the COVID lockdown last year, Newman got himself in a position to be ready to go for Round 2, before his playing season was over in an instant.

Just as he looked ready to go on the eve of the 2021 season, an untimely setback with his knee meant his Round 1 dreams wouldn’t eventuate.

For Newman, that was the most mentally taxing.

“That was probably the most challenging mentally. I knew my timeline and it was all going really well,” he said.

“I had a goal and I thought I’d be right for Round 1 and was tracking in that direction. The setback came out of nowhere: from thinking I would have been playing footy in a couple of weeks turned into eight, nine and 10.

“That was certainly pretty tough, but I knew I had a bit of time up my sleeve and if I could get back around this time, there’s still a lot of the year left to hopefully play some good footy.”

Speaking in the moments after his return to action, Newman was - understandably - feeling the effects of a physical encounter at the MCG.

However, as the man himself put it, being sore isn’t all that bad.

“[I was] a bit sore, but after having a year off I’m pretty happy to be sore,” he said.

“To only have to wait six days [post-game] to hopefully play AFL again is pretty cool.”