In his own words, it’s been a tough week for Michael Firrito.

Dropped from the North Melbourne side for the first time since 2006, the veteran defender had to swallow his pride on Sunday and return to the VFL with Werribee.

Instead of dropping his head and feeling bitter about his omission, the man fondly nicknamed ‘Spud’ approached the day with a great attitude and desire to push his way back in to the senior AFL side.

“It’s been a big week personally for me and it was good to get out there and just think about the task at hand and be a part of it,” he told NMFC.com.au after the three-point loss to Coburg.

With his Kangaroo team-mates by his side on the field and the likes of Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell, Scott Thompson, Nathan Grima and Lachlan Hansen  watching on from the stands, Firrito was well supported and proved a handy addition to Scott West’s backline.

“It’s been a bit different but I’ve had great support from all the boys.  I was just hoping to come back and get a bit of touch and find a bit of zip and take it from there, so I’ll certainly keep working on the things I need to improve.”

The role for the day and the short-term is clear.

“I just have to keep getting in amongst it and make a contest because that’s when I play my best footy; when I’m a hard one-on-one player and then able to provide some dash and rebound.  I’m just trying to get back to doing that.”

After a strong start to the year, the 29-year-old struggled for form and consistency but had many things going against him.

Knee surgery late last year prevented him from having a full pre-season under his belt and the injury has been carefully managed.

Despite the niggles, Firrito says it’s more form related than anything physical.

“I’ve dropped away and now I just need to gain a bit of touch,” he commented.

“I don’t feel bad at all and my body feels pretty good so I’ve just got to get all those facets of my game back together and if I do that, I’ll get back to playing the kind of footy I know I can play.”

In Coburg, it was back to basics with conditions allowing him to do exactly what he’d set out to achieve; get his hands dirty.

“It was very muddy out there in the middle and slippery around the ground…It was tight and contested and certainly back to grass roots footy today.  We all had to fight for everything.”