For much of a long and lingering, stop-start pre-season, exciting young forward Jarrod Cameron was hobbled by the scourge of the modern-day player – osteitis pubis. OP in the football vernacular.

He has been on a long, carefully managed program - as one would expect given his groin injury is a condition generally associated with an overload of training.

The trauma of that journey, the lonely days of walking and jogging laps as teammates participated in match-oriented drills, were forgotten last night when he learned he had been recalled to the West Coast Eagles team for the final game of this Gold Coast excursion against Adelaide at the Gabba tomorrow.

He will play his first game in almost a year, having last represented the club in round 20 last year, on August 4 against Carlton.

This truncated season has moved into round six and the forced break minimised Cameron’s injury torment, at least in the sense of missing games.

When he hit the training track at the Royal Pines Resort, the last run on the makeshift oval on an apron of land between one of three golf courses and the holiday accommodation, there was no hint at the frustration of his journey.

He was relishing his return to the captain’s run, the traditional game-eve fine tune when players begin to think a little more deeply about the challenge ahead and their role in it. His enthusiasm bubbled in the modified session with protocols now decreeing players train in the line groups.

It was a similar story for the other inclusion in the team to tackle the Crows.

Brayden Ainsworth last played almost two years to the day, against GWS at Optus Stadium on July 8, 2019. He had earlier debuted against that same team at Giants Stadium in his first year on the list.

A quirk of his short career means that when he plays his fourth game he will have played against only two clubs. Sandwiched between those Giants encounters was a game against Adelaide.

Ainsworth, a young man who leaves nothing to chance, has battled a displaced finger on his left hand. It is an injury that adds a level of difficulty to his ball-handling, but he meticulously works on those skills.

His attention to detail is just as particular away from the game itself.

He is stringent with his diet, routine in his preparation and he deserved the call-up to replace injured skipper Luke Shuey in the midfield.