Elliot Yeo was a sight for sore eyes on the weekend, in his much-anticipated football return.

The pacey onballer reminding Eagles fans that he hasn’t lost his ball-winning skills, despite nine months on the sidelines.

Although he’s working his way through the WAFL on managed minutes, it’s still an appearance Eagles fans have been waiting for since he was ruled out of finals in September last year.

Yeo lasted his full 75 minutes in pouring rain, but the weather certainly didn’t dampen the premiership player’s spirits.

“I was a bit of ‘kid in a candy store’, geez what am I doing out here, where do I need to run, where do I need to go,” Yeo laughed.

“It was a lot of fun to get back out there, even though it was pouring down with rain, that’s why you play football, to get out there have fun.

“Even though I was on limited minutes, I had a lot of fun out there, and even though we went down by 10 goals in the end, we’ve still got plenty to work on as well as a WAFL team.

“The signs are there that we’re improving and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing some wins from the WAFL boys and hopefully getting that camaraderie up.”

And after nine months of frustrating recovery from osteitis pubis, Yeo was keen to get out there and hit some bodies.

That much was apparent after he laid eight tackles in the 75 minutes he was on field.

“I went to bed that night after the game thinking ‘I played a game today, yeah I feel alright here’,” Yeo said.

“65 per cent or something, I played, moving around, got into bed, sweet, woke up, sore as a boil.

“But the good soreness, the good general soreness, everything else stiffened up, but groin was okay, so that’s a good sign.”

The Eagles now prepare to take on a strong Essendon side, without offensive star Jake Stringer.

The clash made all the more difficult, with all signs pointing to the possibility of a thunderstorm and a 100 per cent chance of rain.

But the question on everyone’s lips is, will Yeo spend another weekend in the seconds, or make his way back into the AFL side?

“That decision is out of my hands. Probably think that there would be another run at WAFL level.

“The plan was always to play two WAFL games, get as much in as I can, so if I do then it will probably be maybe 75 per cent game time, and obviously it’s that stepping stone.”

The pivotal ball-winner also taking admitting he may need another WAFL clash to return to the top level at 100 per cent.

“Nothing like game time, you can run as many laps as you want but there’s nothing like footy fitness and repeat efforts, and repeat sprints, everything like that.

“Getting tackled, or tackling, then getting back up to your feet, footy’s tough,” he laughed.

“But, it’s a lot of fun, once that fitness builds up, hopefully it’s not far away.”