Naitanui is on the comeback from a knee injury suffered at one of the most awkward times – round 22 last season, which kept him out of the finals and the 2017 campaign to date.

“I guess there’s no real ideal time to do your knee,” Naitanui told Inside Sport, at the launch of Nike's new youth campaign, titled "No Turning Back". The emphasis of the campaign is to challenge Australians and reawaken their love of competition, something to which Naitanui can relate.

“It’s been a long journey but I’m at the pointy end now. I’m itching to play again.”

Footy fans will be keen to see how one of the AFL’s physical marvels gets back up to speed. Few men play the ruck as athletically as Nic Nat, and how he handles that with a repaired ACL bears watching.

Naitanui is just as eager to find out: “When I initially started running, I had an element of doubt whether I could do it or not. It’s not until you actually go through and try doing those motions that you can build confidence. I’m at the point now where I’ve done a fair bit of it and I’m pretty confident in my body.”

His team could use some confidence – the Eagles sit at seventh with a 7-5 mark, but have been inconsistent. They had a good win over Geelong last round, which stopped a three-game losing streak that included a tough home loss to GWS, a narrow defeat to Gold Coast and a belting by Essendon.

“It’s been tough,” Naitanui said with a smile. “You get pretty critical from the sidelines. It’s so much easier in the stands.”