MICHAEL Hibberd says his long-awaited return to the AFL – and his first match for Melbourne after 84 games with Essendon from 2011-15 – was a “mixture of emotions”.

Hibberd, who played his first game for Melbourne, after an Achilles injury interrupted the latter part of his pre-season and the early part of the home and away season, was one of his side’s best in its 13-point loss to Richmond at the MCG on Monday night, ANZAC Day Eve.

The 27-year-old said it “unbelievable to be back playing footy” even though his team fell short in the dying minutes of a brilliant contest.

“To have my first game at such a great club is a moment I’ll never forget. It would’ve been a lot different if we had have got the four points, but all in all, I’m happy to be back and I’m loving footy again,” he told Melbourne TV.

“It was a big build-up for a long time and I’ve been looking forward to this moment and I had a lot of fun out there for three quarters, but we need to find a way to win.

“We were no good in that last quarter and they got on top of us and it would’ve been a bit better if we had have got the win. But it was just good to be back playing footy.”

Hibberd, who was one of Melbourne’s best with 27 disposals, eight rebounds and a fine running goal at the 27-minute mark of the second term, said his first major for the club was one of the best moments he’s had in the game.

“It’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve had on the footy field to be honest,” he said.

“I said to my missus before the game that it’d be nice if I could kick a goal in a big game, my first game back. I did that, but if only I could’ve kicked one late to win the game.

“It was a nice feeling, but the four points got away, which killed me a bit.”

Although Melbourne copped several injuries against the Tigers – ruckman Jake Spencer (shoulder/knee) and forward Tim Smith (ribs) were unable to complete the match – Hibberd said the defeat wasn’t necessarily due to the absence of personnel.

“Missing your ruckman does hurt and we missed a forward too in ‘Bull’ (Smith), so the rotations weren’t there, and a few times when we needed a break, they weren’t there,” he said.

“In the end, they (Richmond) ran over the top of us and we couldn’t get any flow into our game.

“They really locked it in their forward line and that’s probably the story of the night, really. In the last quarter, they just had a bit more than us and we fell away.”

Having played in four ANZAC Day matches for Essendon against Collingwood, Hibberd said the ANZAC Day Eve encounter compared similarly.

“The spectacle before the game with the lights off [around the MCG] – you can see everyone’s phone lights on, and the lighting of the torch – that was something I’ll never forget,” he said.  

“They’re both massive games. ANZAC Day is a game that I’ll miss, being at Melbourne now and not Essendon – that’s the one thing I will miss.

“But having the ANZAC Eve game – it’s going to be a marquee game for years and hopefully we can hang onto it, because it was awesome, even though we didn’t get the win.”