The rain at the MCG during the Essendon and Carlton match may not have quite been at drought breaking proportions, but there was one other ‘drought’ that did come to an end.

Heath Hocking’s 581-day wait to return to the field was put to rest.

The returning Bomber picked up ten possessions and laid three tackles in his comeback match.

“The way the weather was and how the game played out probably helped with the speed of the game not being as quick,” Hocking said.

“I had a little bit of time on the bench too which helped and I swapped forward.

“I found throughout the game I could keep up which was good.

“I’ve just got to obviously keep working on adapting to the way AFL footy is now.

“We’ve got a bit to work on but I’m just excited I got back to play a game of footy.”

Hocking became the eighth returning Bomber to don the sash this season.

He said waiting until round three was difficult but he enjoyed seeing his teammates return to the field.

“It was tough but I was definitely excited for the boys who I spent a lot of time with last year and we got to bond a fair bit,” Hocking said.

“It was great to see them play and then when I got the call up, the support they gave me was sensational.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way the boys helped me through the game and the week that led up to it.”

The Bombers lost to the Blues by 15 points with the extra man in the Carlton defence an influential factor in a match severely impacted by the conditions.

“They played the way they wanted to play and we couldn’t get the game on our terms,” Hocking said.

“We’d kick it forward and their spare would mark it, so we didn’t quite get that right.

“A lot of the times we were kicking to an outnumber, so that isn’t what we want to do.

“We’ll put our hands up and get better at that and help communicate that throughout the game.

“The effort was there from the players in tough conditions but there is still plenty to work on and that’s the exciting part.”

The Bombers face Adelaide on Saturday night.