A step back has enabled Majak Daw to gather momentum with his football.

After an interrupted start to 2017, a chat to the coaching staff allowed Daw to take stock of where he was at.

“It was just a build-up. There was concussion, the fractured eye socket, all these things hadn’t allowed me to train,” Daw explained to NMFC.com.au.

“I could have played with the quad but I had a chat with the guys here and the coaches and they said, ‘look we want you to be 100 per cent and we feel like you’re not 100 per cent, then there’s no point playing.’

“That was a really hard message to accept because I felt like I could play out the games, but it was a bit of a backwards step to get everything right.”

Daw has played the last fortnight at VFL level, capping it off with 16-disposals, 7 marks and 3 goals against North Ballarat on Saturday.

Able to run out the game strongly, the 26-year-old impressed with his stints both forward and in the ruck.

“It was good to be back playing some good footy,” Daw said of the game.

“The goals were nice but it was more about running out a full game, hitting some top speeds – which I haven’t been able to do the last month of footy.

“It’s more about getting back and enjoying footy, working on the things the forwards at AFL level are.

“I think I’m at the stage where I’m AFL-ready and getting my injuries under control and building my way back in.”

In Daw’s last two games for Werribee, he has been able to play the second ruck role which would likely be earmarked for him when he does resume at AFL level.

While he’s around the ball, it’s all about making those minutes count.

“My mindset playing that role is that I’m not going to be playing there the whole game,” Daw said.

“So the amount of time I have playing in the ruck, I just want to be as effective as possible and working in with Goldy (Todd Goldstein) and Preussy (Braydon Preuss) at training to see what they do.

“Obviously I’m an undersized ruckman so I’ve got to work with what I have.”