Higgins return another positive for unbeaten Bulldogs

SOUTH Fremantle ruckman Brock Higgins made a successful return from a calf injury in the reserves on Saturday and hopes to build on that in coming weeks to push for a comeback to the undefeated league side before too long.

Higgins cemented himself as the Bulldogs’ No. 1 ruckman throughout the 2015 season in his second year with the Bulldogs since crossing from East Perth where he previously played 31 WAFL matches.

But his late pre-season campaign coming into 2016 was interrupted by a troublesome calf injury that he wasn’t able to shake until last week.

He lined up against Perth at Lathlain Park and after finding his feet in the first half, he turned on a dominant patch of form in the forward-line to start the third quarter with a couple of goals, some big, strong contested marks and showing he was unstoppable against the Demons’ defenders.

That was an encouraging sign of what Higgins could add to the unbeaten Bulldogs league side once he is fully fit again, but for now he was just happy to get around 70 minutes under his belt of game time and to get through unscathed.

“I played three quarters in the twos on the weekend after I had a bit of an injury with my calf. It was just good to get through the game unscathed really,” Higgins said on The Kennel on 91.3 SportFM.

“I didn’t pull up too bad. The body feels really good so I’m happy with how it all went. Hopefully I’ll be back at full fitness in the next few weeks now.”

Higgins knows it might still take a couple of weeks before he can realistically put his hand up for league selection, but with Josh Branchi doing so well in the ruck so far this season he might be able to split his time between the middle, forward and back when he does return.

“I’d think in a couple of weeks once I have my fitness back up I’ll be available for selection and then it’s just up to the coaches,” he said.

“The weekend for me was just mainly about getting through the game. Looking forward I might speak to Todd about my role going forward though.”

“Branch’s really good. He covers the ground well for a big bloke and on the weekend he stepped up to take a few good marks as well, which is good. He’s developing and coming along nicely.”

Higgins is glad to be back playing now given being in the rehab group isn’t the thing he enjoys most in the world, but he has certainly noticed the positive feeling around the club given across the three grades the Bulldogs have only lost once in 12 matches so far in 2016.

“When you’re injured, you have to do a lot of bike riding and spend a lot of time in the weights room on your own really. Then coming back, you do two or three drills a night and then some extra top up running. It’s not the most fun thing to have an injury for a few weeks,” Higgins said.

“The feeling’s good around the club. Since the time I’ve been here, it’s the best everyone has been around the club and everyone is heading in the right direction and knows what we need to do to keep moving forward.