Western Bulldogs defender Nick Coffield says he was grateful to return to the action against Port Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.

Coffield had not been seen at senior level since Round 2, sustaining a shoulder injury against the Suns in Ballarat.

But on Saturday at Adelaide Oval, the 24-year-old made his long-awaited return.

“I’m stoked. It’s been a long sort of 12-13 weeks, and even a long sort of 2-3 years for me,” Coffield said.

“I’m just grateful to be here and happy to get through – even though it was a disappointing sort of day.”

The Bulldogs found themselves on the back foot all day against Port, eventually going down by 48 points.
“They’re obviously a great side – it’s a pretty even comp this year, and they got a jump on us pretty quickly so we got caught on the back foot,” Coffield said.

“They were able to use the ball through the corridor pretty seamlessly which fed into their ability to score.

“Not a heap went right for us, so we’ve just got to focus on the things that did. It bred a bit of opportunity for some of the younger boys and they grabbed it with both hands.”

The Dogs’ next challenge will be Carlton at Marvel Stadium this weekend.

“We’ll obviously be looking to bounce back – it’s a pretty crucial game for our season,” Coffield said.

“It’ll be all hands on deck so hopefully we can get a few boys back in and get the second-half of our season back on track.”