Carlton star Sam Walsh is feeling confident in his contested work again after serious back surgery wiped out his pre-season.
The hard-running midfielder missed the Blues' crucial final-round loss to Collingwood last year with a back issue, a result that painfully cost Carlton a long-awaited finals berth.
But the injury lingered and Walsh was forced into having surgery just before Christmas to remove a bulging disc portion to relieve pressure on a nerve in his back.
Through a meticulous rehabilitation process, Walsh was able to return to the field, ahead of schedule, for Carlton's round-five match against Adelaide in April.
But the co-vice captain had played in eight defeats from nine games this year heading into last Sunday's match against Gold Coast as pressure built into what coach Michael Voss described as a "storm" surrounding Ikon Park.
The Blues' talented midfield group came under some fire during that period, but Walsh, captain Patrick Cripps and Adam Cerra all silenced their critics in a dominant display against highly touted Suns onballers Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson.
"I think the biggest thing was I'm always gonna back my running in and I feel like I was covering the ground well, but it was a bit more that contest stuff," Walsh told AAP about his recovery after Carlton's 59-point victory on Sunday.
"Also doing a few different roles within that, but overall the body's feeling good now.
"It was definitely the fact that I didn't do a pre-season, it makes it harder.
"I got a good solid block (of training) before I came back, but I think it was more the contest side in games that I had to work on over the the past four or five weeks.
"I feel like I'm sort of getting back to what my role is within that mix. I'm not trying to force anything."
Now the pressure has been released at Carlton, Walsh is determined to hang onto that winning feeling and repay the passionate Blues faithful.
The Blues have the bye this weekend before facing Hawthorn at the MCG in round 16.
"We talk about bringing enjoyment to the game and bringing our fans in the game, and when we're at our best that's what we do," Walsh said.
"It was nice to get back to the feeling of that. I suppose when you get a feeling you don't want it to go away so it's up to us now to keep on putting our head down.
"It's only one game and we've got to keep fighting, but we needed a win to break the shackles and we just got to keep going from here."
