DAVID Cuningham didn't play a game at any level for 685 days. He didn't train with the main group at Princes Park for all of 2022 and didn't train with them for more than 18 months. But on Sunday, 763 days after his career hit pause, the Carlton midfielder pressed play again.

It has been a long and bumpy route back to the AFL since Cuningham's anterior cruciate ligament ruptured when he landed awkwardly in the opening minute of a game against Melbourne in round nine of 2021. 

Rehab is rarely smooth, but not much went to plan. First Cuningham dealt with unrelenting calf issues that threatened his career. Then the former first-round pick was sidelined for months earlier this year after dislocating his shoulder in a gym accident.

But on Thursday, Blues midfield coach Tim Clarke suggested over the phone that the wait was over, before senior coach Michael Voss confirmed the good news later in the day. Finally, it was happening.

Cuningham returned to the scene of the injury that stalled his career and played a role in a win that not only provides Carlton with a pulse in 2023, but resuscitates his own career. 

"I hadn't trained fully with the main group until the start of this year, so it was 18 months without training or playing, which was a pretty dark place, getting no reward for the work being put in. Right now, I'm pretty over the moon that I have made it back," Cuningham told AFL.com.au after the Blues’ 59-point win over Gold Coast.  

The knee reconstruction turned out to be the most straightforward part of Cuningham's return. The problem was with his calves. It led the him all over the country searching for answers to a problem that not many could solve.  

"The ACL was probably the easiest part of it because it's a set 12 months and I was pretty diligent with my rehab and was on track for that, but I had this tendon issue with my calves, both calves, and couldn't really find a solution," Cuningham said. 

"I went around Australia and saw heaps of different specialists. I couldn't find the right answer. Originally we thought it was soft tissue but it is more of a tendon issue. That started because you have three months of an ACL where you don't run at all. You lose a lot of conditioning. 

"I've had some tendon issues in my hamstrings, so it was probably a similar thing to get through. I just started doing some isometric exercises recently that have really helped and I've started to get the continuity back in my training which is obviously crucial with any injury. In the last few months I've just been able to play footy again, which is the best feeling after not even being able to train for nearly two years."

With seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel and the clock ticking on his contract, Cuningham had moments in 2022 where he questioned if he would ever be able to get his body right, moments where he wondered if he would still be at Ikon Park in 2023.

"There were periods of doubt, no doubt," he said. "When there is an injury that's recurring over and over again, you do lose a bit of hope and a bit of motivation. I needed something to go right and eventually it did. I'm very grateful it did."

Sunday was the first time Voss has been able to put Cuningham's magnet on his whiteboard since he replaced David Teague and the Oakleigh Chargers product showed the coach he has something to work with during a crucial two months ahead for the Blues. 

"He has always been fit – as in healthy – we just haven't been able to use him because he has been injured for such a long period of time," Voss said on Sunday night after Cuningham showed glimpses of his game-breaking capacity.

"His last two weeks have been really good. The biggest decision we had to make was do we hold another week for durability so he can build some load into his body, but we were assured that he was ready to go and he had done plenty of work. It was good to add him in; he added a point of difference."

The 2015 AFL Draft has provided Carlton with three of its key pillars – Jacob Weitering (pick No.1), Harry McKay (pick No.10) and Charlie Curnow (pick No.12) – while Jack Silvagni has exceeded expectations after being taken with pick No.53. 

Cuningham (pick No.23) was selected with the final pick in the first-round and returned for his 42nd game on the weekend, just in time to play alongside close mate McKay in the Coleman Medallist's 100th game.

"He had to work very hard in the early part of his career to get games and just the dedication he has shown to his craft over the years is something I've admired," Cuningham said.

"It is a credit to him and the work he has put in to get to 100 games."

Cuningham is now back and can start building towards his own milestones.