Hadley made his comeback from two full knee reconstructions in the Lions' 27-point loss to the Sydney Swans at the SCG on Sunday, and the 24-year-old couldn't have had a tougher assignment for much of his first game back.
The promising midfielder had the task of minding dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes for about half of Sunday's clash, and he made a good fist of it.
With Lions coach Leigh Matthews saying after the match Goodes had "destroyed" his side in previous clashes, the Sydney champion had far less of an impact on Sunday and Hadley could take much of the credit for nullifying his influence.
And while some might baulk at the chance of running with a champion such as Goodes in their return to AFL senior football, Hadley welcomed the opportunity.
"I was on him for probably half the match," Hadley said.
"I suppose it's not a bad thing when you come in, to play on someone (like him) because you're a little bit rusty and you're not running to the right spots.
"So it's sort of a good thing when you can play on one of the better players."
Hadley's road back to senior footy has been a long one, with plenty of hard work and time spent in the rehab room.
While the result didn't go his team's way on Sunday, Hadley was relieved to be back on the field and to have gotten through a full game unscathed.
"You do have your doubts but you've just got to try to block them out," he said.
"You know everyone's the same out there once you run out. You've just got to try to block those negative thoughts and move on.
"It's good just to get out there and play with the big boys again. It's been a long time … just unlucky we didn't have a win today."
Hadley said the Swans' run and bigger bodies had proved too much for the Lions in the final term.
"I think there's still probably some positives for us to take away though," he said.
"You know, we stuck with them for three quarters.
"The last couple of times we've come here we've got smashed, so it's good to know that we're improving.
"We're just a new group, so a lot of people just don't know what we can do.
"But we've shown that if we stick to our structures and to our game plan and get a bit of confidence, we can match it with the good sides."
