Sam Wright feeling pleasure in the pain of his Kangaroos return

After an injury-ravaged two season, Sam Wright is once again enjoying the pain of an AFL campaign.

North Melbourne’s Sam Wright in action against GWS Giants earlier this year. Picture: Getty Images

As Sam Wright assessed his comeback from career-threatening foot and ankle problems, the Kangaroo found it hard to identify whether the pleasure or the pain was more satisfying.

The 27-year-old will play the sixth game of his second career in Geelong today as North Melbourne seek to build on their impressive start to this season by notching another big scalp.

Wright, who played 116 games before being cut down by serious injuries early in 2016, produced arguably his best performance since his return when kicking two goals from 18 touches against Brisbane a week ago.

One in particular was a cracker, with the defender able to conjure something out of nothing while on his back, surrounded by Lions, in the goal square.

Wright could not remember the previous occasion he scored a goal — it came against Sydney in round 11, 2015 — but the latest is certain to remain a highlight no matter how the rest of his career pans out. And, as North Melbourne coach Brad Scott noted, the ­response it prompted in his ­teammates was due to their ­recognition of the trials Wright battled through over the past two seasons.

“Sam has done a power of work to get back,” Scott said. “He could have been forgiven for thinking he was never going to get back as he went through setback after setback. And that is why, when he kicked those goals, one of them in the goal square in particular, you could see the players’ reaction to it, because they acknowledge the hard work he has done to get to it.”

WEB Sport AFL Wright's horror stretch

A smile of bewilderment on Wright’s face was indicative of the pleasure. And helping him celebrate in the rooms afterwards last week were the under-17 Katamatite Tigers, a team from his home town in northeast Victoria. Wright had arranged their tickets for the game.

But as strange as it may sound, just as satisfying has been the soreness he has felt dragging his body out of bed in the days after recent matches.

“I am still trying to build fitness and the first week I felt pretty fresh but the last few weeks, you get the niggles of footy, which I guess is a good thing in the end because I haven’t felt that in a long time,” Wright told The Weekend Australian.

“I feel like my legs are starting to come through a little bit but I still need to build more fitness. Just trying to pull up after AFL matches, I focus so much on my feet and ankles and stuff like that, that I forgot how hard it is to get up for an AFL game each week in terms of all your other body parts.

“But it has been really good. I just have to stay on top of it.”

Wright had established himself as an integral member in defence in a Kangaroos side that reached preliminary finals in 2014 and 2015 before he hit a prolonged run of misfortune.

A sprained right ankle in round six in 2016 started the rot. Five weeks later he wrenched the left ankle. A bid to return later in the year failed due to soreness, and surgery on both ankles followed in the post-season.

At the start of April 2017, Wright injured a foot that led to an eight-week spell on the sidelines. Another comeback was aborted when, after three games in the VFL, it was decided an operation was needed on his ankle.

Throughout this, Wright added to his skill set by working with the Kangaroos’ younger footballers, though it did not ease his concerns at the direction in which his career was heading.

“It has been hard. There were definitely times where I thought, ‘This might be it’,” he said. “It is hard trying to push those thoughts to the back of your head and concentrate on how the team is going and what you can do.”

Given the stop-start nature of repeated rehabilitation campaigns, the latest attempt to nurse Wright back to full health was both cautious and innovative.

This included a stint training in ballet as Wright sought to strengthen the muscles of his feet.

Not surprisingly, Wright is dedicating a significant amount of time to ensuring his feet remain sound, but the success his side is enjoying this season has been beneficial for two reasons.

“It feels like all I am doing is getting physio and doing exercises but with the group we have, it puts excitement back into playing footy,” he said.