It was hard and at times looked unlikely, but it was all worthwhile for Charles Lill.
Lill waited 429 days to rejoin his Essendon VFL teammates on the field after making his debut against Frankston on June 13, 2015.
His second game on Sunday came after a battle against a form of testicular cancer, months of chemotherapy and a long recovery after invasive surgery earlier this year.
After returning to football through his local side the Doutta Stars on June 25, the 21-year old played seven games before earning a call up to the state level.
The goal of a second VFL game was something that pushed Lill through months of rehabilitation and was made a reality on Wednesday night when it was announced at VFL training.
Essendon’s longest serving VFL player Jacob Thompson had worn Lill’s number 64 jumper this season in honour of his recovering friend and teammate.
Thompson announced to the group that he was handing back the jumper for Lill to wear in his long awaited return drawing huge applause.
After a 78-point loss to Geelong and an 86-point loss to Casey, the atmosphere within the team which had taken a hit was instantly shifted.
Added with excitement of debut games from Alex Boyse and Nick Hind and the return from injury of Mark Jamar and the vibe around the team was completely changed.
VFL coach Matthew Egan praised Lill for getting to the point where a VFL return was even a possibility.
“We are rapt for him,” Egan said following the win over Williamstown.
“His first game back and the boys were really excited about with his journey and what he’s been through.
“It’s more about his story; he has been through a lot in the last two years and worked extremely hard to get to this position. His last two weeks for Doutta Stars have been really good and he deserved his opportunity.
“Charles was excellent today; as they game went on he looked more and more comfortable. He uses the ball really well and plays his man really tight.”
Lill was stationed in the defensive half during the game and looked to grow as the game went on and he adjusted to the intensity.
He finished with 10 disposals, six kicks, four handballs, two marks and one rebound 50 in the memorable win.
“I’m gassed, exhausted,” Lill said following the match.
“Last year the game that I played in we won by about 100 points against one of the bottom ranked sides, so to come out and get a win against Williamstown was an awesome game to come back in.
“I didn’t get as much of it as I would have liked but I thought I defended my man really hard and was part of a pretty good performance from the backline group overall – I was just another cog in the machine today.”
After achieving the main goal he set for his long rehabilitation, Lill said contentment was probably the wrong word.
“It is a bit of a box ticked for me,” he said.
“It was great running out and great coming off but now that I’ve actually played a game and the boys have really galvanized in the last week, I’m looking forward to the next month of football and to see what we can do.”
Egan had told Lill that he would be playing only minutes before it was announced to the group.
“I wasn’t expecting Thomo to get up and announce it but that was a nice touch and nice for all the boys to get around it so it felt really good,” Lill said.
“It was just excitement initially but as the week wore on I started to get a bit nervy wondering how I was going to go in a massive game.
“I’d love to stay in the side, as always in the VFL it’s pretty competitive for spots and will depend on where different people are at with injuries.
“Hopefully I keep my spot but if not I’ll just keep showing up to training and keep pushing for it.”
