While much of the spotlight in Saturday’s 61-point win over Essendon was on captain Gary Ablett in his return from injury, fellow SUNS ball winner Dion Prestia compiled an equally impressive comeback of his own.

Returning from a torn lateral meniscus, the Gold Coast vice-captain went quietly about his business, amassing 29 possessions, nine tackles, eight inside 50’s and a goal in his first appearance in over 10 months.

It led senior coach Rodney Eade to describe the 23-year-old’s performance as more heartening than Ablett’s.

“Dion was really good for a first-up,” Eade told reporters in his post-match press conference on Saturday evening.

“I thought his performance was more encouraging than Gary’s.

“29 possessions and got the right amount of game time into him; we thought we did that well.

“It looked like he hadn’t missed a beat.”