Unfortunately in January, Bullen injured his ankle during a pre-season match and that is when things started to go downhill for the former Murray Bushrangers player. An ongoing ankle and knee injury has forced the 20-year-old to miss over half the season. Just when Bullen appeared to have recovered from the injury and returned to the VFL side he would re-injure the ankle or knee. ""It has been a very frustrating year for Marc Bullen. He has been riddled with injury since the pre-season. Just when he appeared to be back on track, he would be struck down again with the ankle problem and then the knee,"" development coach David Flood said.
After having surgery on his knee after Round 7, Bullen returned to the seconds in Round 16 against the Coburg Tigers. He has played the past four matches and with each game has slowly been returning to his 2001 best and fairest winning form. Last weekend against Williamstown, Bullen played the entire match in the centre and was clearly the Bombers best player with 30 possessions. Bullen ran hard all day and continually moved the ball forward, finishing his good work with two goals.
""After his performance against Williamstown and his match fitness close to 100%, Bullen will be pushing for senior selection this week. He was fantastic for us on the weekend and not only was our second leading possession getter, he shut down experienced mid-fielders - Shane O'Bree, Carl Steinfort and Dane Swan. He has a big future at the club, so hopefully all his injury problems are behind him now,"" Flood said.
2001 best and fairest winner Jason Johnson is also a big wrap for Bullen and believes a senior berth isn't too far away for the mid-fielder. ""He has sort of done the type of apprenticeship I did in that he has had his injury problems. When we really needed a mid-fielder earlier this year he just couldn't put eight quarters together. He has had ankle problems and a couple of other injuries. But I really like the way he plays - I think he is a really good chance to play a lot of senior football and in the not too distant future,"" Johnson said.
