He couldn’t get a hand on the opening ball-up, but Nic Naitanui quickly went about making his presence felt after that in the early stages of his AFL comeback.

The West Coast ruckman was inserted straight into the action in his first senior game in almost a year, contesting the opening stoppage against Hawthorn’s Ben McEvoy.

And while the Hawks veteran took the first honour, the rematch reminded everyone of the kind of impact Naitanui can have.

The Eagle’s first tap went straight into the path of Dom Sheed to run onto for a deep forward-50 entry.

It was one of three hitouts that found Sheed right where the midfielder would have wanted out of stoppages to help West Coast eke out a two-point advantage at the first change.

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In the game’s opening minutes, Naitanui also flew for pack mark attempt, fended off a Hawks opponent, and fired a snap at goal that failed to curl back.

Later in the term, he also laid a crunching tackle on Jaeger O’Meara to underline his presence around the contest.

Amid a much-publicised return, it’s safe to say Nic Nat is back.