Schneider makes injury return
By James Matthey
He might not have been sharing the big stage at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night like the rest of his St Kilda teammates, but Adam Schneider was just relieved to be back on the field at all.
The former Swans premiership player made his return to competitive football for the first time in three months with Sandringham in their 124-49 win over Bendigo Gold in the VFL.
The Riverina product has been limited to just a solitary appearance for the Saints this season, coming all the way back in Round 2, as hamstring and calf problems threatened to derail his 2013 campaign completely.
The 29-year old had similar injury woes last year, restricting him to just eight appearances for the season.
The skilful left footer has amassed 196 career games in the AFL to date, and admitted that reaching the 200-game milestone in the near future was in the back of his mind.
“The way I look at it is that it’s something that I will look back on at the end of my career,” Schneider said.
“I’ve been so close for two years that I would like to get there this year – that would be fantastic.
“At the end of the day, it’s been in the back of my head as something that would be great to look back on but I’ll just take it as it comes.”
Speaking before his return, Schneider said he was just excited to be back doing what he loves.
“I haven’t played since round two so to be playing a game of footy again is exciting.
“I’m that excited I feel like a kid again.”
St Kilda coach Scott Watters has left the door ajar for Schneider’s return to the senior team this season, and said he would love to see him put together a consistent run of games.
"With Schneids, we think he is a really good player, it’s just about getting some durability into his body and into his preparation.
"He just needs a little bit of luck. He is working really hard. It would be terrific to see him string three or four games together."
