James Hird has been given the all clear from his eye specialist to play this Friday night against Fremantle. ""I started to see properly this morning for the first time. Once my vision came back I knew I was pretty right to play,"" Hird said. The Bomber skipper has spent the past week at home with his family, unable to train or even come to Windy Hill.

Hird obeyed his doctor’s orders and didn’t even attend last Saturday night’s game against Geelong. ""It was alright actually (being house bound). I have three kids, so it was good to see them and spend time with the family. It was a bit frustrating Saturday night watching the boys play, but apart from that it was a good break.

""You never like to miss games but I suppose I will be fresher for next week. If we come out and have a good win and I play well, I suppose I will say that. Unfortunately the boys weren’t able to win on Saturday night, so maybe it wasn’t that good a thing to have the week off,"" Hird said after his first training session back this afternoon.

Hird has recovered sooner than first expected. Early reports in Adelaide had the skipper sidelined for up to eight weeks. ""The surgeon had a look at it in Adelaide and he wasn’t keen for me to play for three or four weeks. Then we came back to Melbourne and saw the specialist. The eye cleared up within a few days and he had no problems with it. He said wait until Monday and if you can see out of it properly then go out and have a go. I felt good tonight (at training).""

Hird has endured his fair share of injuries throughout his career. Some, well most have been extremely painful. Hird said that this eye injury was frustrating more than painful. ""It wasn’t sore, I just had a bit of blurry vision and couldn’t see that well. There is no pain involved in the injury at all.

""I was never under the thought that I would lose my eye or lose my vision – the doctor was pretty confident that it would come good. It was more frustrating that I had missed out on a great win in Adelaide and wasn’t able to contribute. That was the worst part,"" Hird said.