Sydney Swans defender Alex Johnson says he’s “never felt stronger or fitter” and is confident of rediscovering his pre-2013 form in the hope of an AFL return, but is careful of not getting too far ahead of himself in the wake his return to competitive football for the NEAFL Swans on Saturday.

Johnson played for the first time in more than three years in the NEAFL Swans’ Round 14 win against Canberra, managing around two quarters of game time before putting the jacket on and calling it a day at the half-time.

It was a giant leap for the 25-year-old whose last game of any kind came in a NEAFL practice match against GWS in 2014, where the defender suffered his second ACL rupture in 12 months.

His last full game of AFL came in the 2012 Grand Final, before which he’d played every game of the season as a crucial cog in defence.

While Johnson could be forgiven for looking beyond Saturday’s promising return, he’s remaining realistic and taking his comeback (literally) one week at a time.

“I’ve never felt stronger or fitter,” Johnson said on Sydney radio on Monday.

“I only played the 45 minutes or so on Saturday, over the next few weeks we’ll look to build that game time up and just get back into the groove of playing football again.

“I don’t have dates or rounds in mind that I’d like to make a return to the AFL, but it’s not about that.

“Everything I’ve done over the last few years was about Saturday and getting back to playing football again.

“Our reserves play Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon at the SCG, I’ll look forward to more game time and we’ll build from there.”

Johnson finished the game with eight disposals and a goal in the 91-point win at Canberra, his second-quarter major triggering wild celebrations from teammates on-field and cheers from a large congregation of fans who turned out specially to watch him in action.

Among the onlookers were eight senior teammates who, after his inclusion was announced, redirected their flights from Melbourne to Canberra in an effort to support their mate ‘AJ’.

The extra support tugged at Johnson’s heartstrings and reinforced what’s kept him motivated throughout his long and tedious rehabilitation.

“In my mind, it really reaffirms that they’ve got my back in this whole thing and they want me around the footy club,” Johnson added.

“It speaks volumes about the footy club in the amount of support I’ve had,” Johnson added.

“I think everyone saw the pictures last year when I had my first run in over 900 days, all the boys coming in on their day off to support me.

“The support has been unwavering throughout the whole three or four years and I can’t thank them enough.”