NOT surprisingly, Jack Viney is champing at the bit for Sunday.

The bull-at-the-gate midfielder has yet to feature for the Demons this year, after his preparation was hindered in the lead-up to the season proper.

But Viney said he had put in “some real hard yards” over the past month and was determined to “help the boys” upon his return against Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium on Sunday.

“[Ill] be pretty nervous, but I’m just going to be excited,” he told Dee TV.

“Having played 13 games last year, I’ve got all of the nerves out of the way and it’s more that excitement that’s going to be kicking in now.

“I can’t wait – it’s been frustrating watching from the sidelines – and I just want to get in there and throw my weight around and try and help out the boys as much as I can, so I’m looking forward to doing that.”

Viney said a hip problem hampered his pre-season, which forced him to miss the opening two rounds of the season.

“I had a bit of a hip issue, which came from last year and it really restricted my loads for the pre-season. I came out 16 hours behind the top midfielders in pre-season, so I had a fair bit of catching up to do,” he said.

“Since my body has been really healthy, I’ve just really been putting in extra sessions here and there, and really working as hard as I can to catch up to the boys.

“I feel confident that I’ve done that and I’m ready to go out and smash it on the weekend.”

Viney said it had been really tough watching on early in the season, but he also learned plenty during his time off.

“There was a really good opportunity against St Kilda, which unfortunately we missed out on. It was a disappointing game against West Coast, so it sucks when you get those results,” he said.

“You feel like you could be out there helping the team, but what I’ve been really good at this pre-season, is taking positives out of things and just observing the game from the crowd and give feedback during the week, which players might not have seen.

“There have definitely been positives out of it – being able to sit back and watch, and see what we need to get better at.

“Now I know what I need to bring to the table on the weekend to keep my spot and to play well.”

Viney said coach Paul Roos had been “awesome” for him already, as had the rest of the coaches who had been “really understanding, really good listeners and motivators”.

“I think Roosy has done a really good job of taking a lot of the pressure off a lot of the younger guys and he’s certainly done that with me,” he said.

“He hasn’t got a lot of high expectations on me at the moment – he just wants me to go in and do what I do best.

“I’ll probably play a few different roles and Roosy’s really keen in just developing my game and [allowing me] to become the best player I can personally.”

Despite some frustrations in his second season, Viney said he relished every minute as an AFL player.

“I’m still loving it. Last pre-season was different with my body being completely fine and having a really good pre-season on the track,” he said.

“The flip side was that this pre-season, it was a bit frustrating and I guess that’s why I haven’t been in the team and on the track as much.

“It’s been two extremes. I was really happy with last year and this year has been really frustrating, but it’s just made me a stronger person and more resilient.”