After a bruised nerve kept him out for the majority of the first half of the season, the North Melbourne forward made a successful return for Werribee on Saturday.
“It was frustrating, because we always thought I would be right for the next week,” Tarrant told NMFC.com.au of his spell on the sidelines.
“But once I sat down with Steve Saunders (Director of Medical Services) and the doctor, and we figured out we would put a plan in place where I would miss a chunk of time it made it easier to deal with."
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Tarrant said he didn’t feel nervous going into his first game. Instead, he was excited to be playing with his team-mates once again.
“I felt pretty confident... I’ve had worse injuries than this so it wasn’t a big deal but you never like missing football especially in the middle part of the year,” he added.
“I had trained for a few weeks before I played, just to get some load through my legs and stuff like that. I was pretty confident and it’s good going down there (Werribee) and knowing most of the boys as well.”
The number 25 was impressive, booting three goals, but understands he’ll need more time to prove he’s ready to take the step back up to AFL level.
“You would think I would need to play a few more games in the VFL. It’s a fair chunk of time to miss especially when I wasn’t running. It wasn’t like I had a hand injury or something where I could still run.
“I’m doing a lot of top-up stuff after training and a bit of extra stuff to try and fast-track that. But it’s up to the coaches really, if I hit some form and can put my hand up for selection.
“I’ve just got to get my body up to the fitness that’s capable of playing AFL.”
In Tarrant’s absence, emerging forward Aaron Black has become a permanent fixture, meaning a three-pronged attack similar to 2012 isn’t out of the question later in the season.
