Just try wiping the smile off Will Walker’s face.

It’s been close to two years since a serious knee injury cruelly ended his first season, but things are well and truly looking up for the talented forward.

Just like his teammates, Walker had been waiting patiently to get back to the club since the season’s postponement, but for the 21-year-old, this week's return holds specials significance.   

“It’s probably the first time I’ve been knee (pain) free for the best part of 20 months, so I’m really confident in my body,” he told North Media.

“It’s so good. It’s honestly the best thing. I wake up with a smile on my face, I jump out of bed.

“The day of my first training session I had three or four hours’ sleep, because I was just so excited. I was like a kid in a candy shop.”

Walker played in a VFL practice match before the season’s hiatus, and while the AFL is still to decide on the best approach for second-tier games going forward, he'll eagerly await another opportunity.

It’s a chance the youngster wasn’t always confident would arrive. 

“There was certainly a time that I thought I’d never play footy again,” Walker admitted.

“I remember a car ride when I thought I’d never be able to run again, never be able to play again, after my second fracture (tibia).”

Walker played four games in his debut season, 2018, after being selected with pick 23 in the previous year's NAB AFL Draft.