The return of David Hille to training today, following a stingray incident, was a welcome sight for Essendon officials.
The star ruckman was playing down the incident saying that it might have even aided his recovery from a hamstring strain after four weeks on a modified program.
""It (the sting) actually gave the hamstring a couple more days to relax which is probably not a bad thing,"" he said.
""I still feel very fit and I don't see it as a big deal.
""I was walking on Sunday at Albert Park beach and managed to stand on a stingray. It was a little murky in the water and I couldn't see where I was going and, yeah, he got me.
""I walked myself to the lifeguards and asked them what to do and they patched me up and I drove myself off (to the hospital).""
Hille is the third AFL player to be stung in the past few years but says he was lucky.
""We know how serious these things can be and I like to think I was on the rather lighter end of it,"" he said.
""I am training today and I didn't have the pain that Jarrod (Grant) and Daniel (Kerr) had so it seems to be a minor event.""
