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The possible return to the Essendon senior side of Ramanauskas has been a talking point this week, but the man himself is content to bide his time in the VFL with Bendigo.

Ramanauskas has made an inspirational return to football this year as an Essendon rookie after enduring a recurrence of cancer in his neck and a serious knee injury in the past two years.

The 26-year-old member of Essendon's 2000 premiership side has played five games with Bendigo this season, and is relishing the chance to just be back out on the football field, even if it's at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, rather than the MCG or Telstra Dome.

'‘It's just enjoyable playing footy again, to be honest," Ramanauskas told The Advertiser yesterday.

‘‘Things are going along okay; I'm just trying to do my part and not let down the younger fellows.

‘‘Being one of the older guys, I have to show a bit of experience out there and try to help them out as much as I can.

‘‘At the same time, I'm competitive like everyone else and I want to win.

‘‘I feel like I'm improving each week, but it's just very much a gradual thing that's going to happen each week as I get fitter." Ramanauskas, who was at Kangaroo Flat Secondary College yesterday as part of Essendon's On The Ball program, made his long-awaited return to football earlier this year for Bendigo against Sandringham at Windy Hill on Sunday, April 22.

It was his first game since round three of the 2005 AFL season, and a massive crowd of 2500 was on hand to support Ramanauskas in his comeback.

Although the Bombers were beaten by seven points by the reigning premiers, Ramanauskas made a solid start, collecting 12 possessions and laying four tackles.

‘‘That was a great day for me, but more importantly, a great day for my wife and family," he said.

However, a week later Ramanauskas injured a groin in the Bombers' loss to Port Melbourne, sidelining him for the following two games.

‘‘The pace and expectation these days of your body are a lot greater, so I had to do just that bit more training to get the body back to a level that I could compete at consistently each week, and I think I'm at that level now," said Ramanauskas, who has played 111 games with Essendon.

Ramanauskas has now played five VFL games for Bendigo and was a standout for the Bombers in their Queen's Birthday clash with the Box Hill Hawks at the QEO on Monday.

Playing a mix of wing and half-back, he collected 32 possessions, took four marks, had five clearances and six inside 50s in 82 minutes of ground time in the 62-point win, which elevated the Bombers into sixth position on the ladder after nine rounds.

‘‘I guess I was just in the right spot at the right time on Monday," Ramanauskas said.

‘‘It was a good win, and it was a really good team effort.

‘‘I always felt that once the young players got a few games into them at VFL level things would start to come together nicely.

‘‘We've won the past three matches, so hopefully, we can continue on." Following Ramanauskas' best-on-ground performance on Monday, and a polished 18-possession game against Coburg the week before, there has been plenty of discussion in the past three days about a return to the AFL in the second half of the season.

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said earlier in the week: ‘‘We'll strongly consider him soon; he's got to keep building himself up."But Ramanauskas is playing down any possible return to the AFL later this year.

‘‘If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't," he said.

‘‘Someone has to have a long-term injury (for Ramanauskas to be elevated off the rookie list), and at the minute I don't think there is.

‘‘Until that happens, it's not a real great concern, and as I said, I'm just happy having a kick and playing footy again.

‘‘My goal is just to continue playing footy and to get healthy again." Bendigo Bombers coach Matthew Knights has built Ramanauskas' game time up from 50 minutes in his first game against Sandringham to the 82 minutes he played against Box Hill.

‘‘I would like to think over the next couple of weeks I would get him up to about 100 minutes, so it has just been a gradual progression," Knights said.

‘‘I have been comfortable with that, Adam has been really comfortable with that and it has just suited his progress to a tee.

‘‘His contributions the past three games have been very good; his ratio of minutes versus impact versus disposal has been excellent in the past three weeks.

‘‘He has been having a terrific impact for the minutes he has been playing, and I would say he has been playing without too much restriction.

‘‘The education and development our younger players will get from Rama being around is very good.

‘‘He gives them direction on field, he gets to the right spots, and most importantly, they see how exquisitely he uses the ball and it shows all our players how they should have pride in their disposal, which is a very important aspect of modern day footy." Asked about the prospect of Ramanauskas earning an AFL recall some time in 2007, Knights, who is also Essendon's development coach, said: ‘‘There are a lot of variables that come into that.

‘‘Firstly, Adam has to continue his form and his fitness, which is going well, and secondly, Essendon is playing good footy.

‘‘There haven't been a lot of changes there in the past month, so there's a lot to consider.

‘‘But I would say his game on Monday was first-class, particularly in the area of distributing the ball to his team-mates.

‘‘He hit the body with all his skills, and he ran out the 82 minutes strong, so that's what gives us confidence that we're going to raise that bar as we go." Should Ramanauskas be elevated off the rookie list and become available for senior selection later this year, he will walk into a side that has been one of the big surprise packets of the AFL season.

At the halfway mark of the season, Essendon, which won just three games last year, sits in fourth position on the ladder with a 7-4 record.

‘‘At the start of the season, if you had said we would have been sitting in fourth at this stage, we would have taken it, for sure," Ramanauskas said.

‘‘It shows what a bit of excitement does to the team.

‘‘The excitement about the club is fantastic, but we have to continue that on now.

‘‘We are going into the second half of the season and we are not in the finals yet, but obviously, the goal now is to make the finals and do well in them." Two important weekends coming up for Ramanauskas and the Essendon Football Club will start on June 23-24 when the Call to Arms campaign will be held across Victoria.

The campaign will aim to raise money for the fight against cancer, and as part of it, footballers and football supporters across the state will be asked to wear a yellow armband and make a donation, with funds to go to the Cancer Council Victoria.

The following Friday night on June 29 at the Telstra Dome, Essendon will play Melbourne in the Clash for Cancer.

As part of the round 13 game against the Demons, Essendon will wear a guernsey with a yellow armband incorporated into it.

‘‘All the money will go to the Cancer Council of Victoria, which is a great cause," Ramanauskas said.

‘‘June 23 and 24 is going to be a special weekend in Victoria for local footy." Bendigo has the bye in the VFL this weekend.