Ben Long is back.

The nephew of Essendon great Michael Long will play his first game of football in almost three months when he lines up for Sandringham in the VFL this weekend.

It was back in Round 7 – the Saints were playing the Demons at Etihad Stadium – when the 20-year-old somewhat innocuously suffered a fractured metatarsal in his right foot.



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“I didn’t really know what had happened, it just got really sore, but I kept moving and that sort of got me through the game,” Long explained.

“After the game, it was obviously sorer when I stopped running, so I got the X-rays on the Monday and came up with a stress fracture.”

It was Long’s first injury since his junior playing days in the Northern Territory, and fresh off the back of a Round 5 NAB Rising Star nomination, the emerging Saint faced a long and lonesome stint on the sidelines.

“It’s true what people say, it can become a pretty lonely place,” he said.

“But the boys and the coaches are still pretty supportive, you still interact with them even though you’re obviously doing your own training to get back playing again … but it’s good still having that connection.”





Ben Long will play for Sandringham this weekend

The collective frustration felt when he suffered the injury was felt most strongly by Long himself, who’d been building into form and stringing together consecutive impressive games at senior level.

“I sort of felt like I was playing consistent footy for the team and playing pretty good footy down forward,” Long said.

“But you know, it’s one of those things, people get injured. You’ve just gotta get up and keep going.

“It was definitely hard, but to get back to training and kick the footy around has been one of the best feelings coming out of rehab, just getting back with the boys and getting amongst it. I’m just really happy to get the opportunity to play footy again.”