Higgins back at Arden St after concussion break

SHAUN Higgins has returned to North Melbourne after his brutal concussion but a return to AFL action is likely to be at least a couple of weeks away. The Kangaroos utility was knocked out cold in a sickening collision with Hawthorn’s Ryan Burton on Sunday, just hours after his wife gave birth to their first child.

Looking worse for the wear after having surgery on a badly split lip, Higgins was nonetheless in good spirits yesterday as he returned to Arden St to watch his teammates train.

“I’m feeling pretty good. Slowly getting better each day so good to get back into the club and see the boys again,” Higgins said.

“I don’t remember the incident but I’ve been able to piece together the day now and the build-up. There’s a little bit of time that’s gone missing but other than that, all good.”

The 30-year-old admits his memories of his wife giving birth to their daughter Rosie earlier in the day were initially “scattered” — a situation not helped by prankster teammate Jack Ziebell suggesting she had given birth to twins. Higgins re- mains hopeful of lining up against Sydney next weekend but is long odds to play given he likely won’t resume training until midway through next week. Teammate Ed VickersWillis, who was concussed within the same passage of play, trained yesterday and is listed as a test for Saturday’s game against Port Adelaide.

Higgins said he held no bad feelings towards Burton but agreed that there was uncertainty about when it is appropriate to bump rather than tackle. “I was under the impression that if you elect to bump and it goes wrong, you’ll find yourself in strife,” he said.

“Clearly, that’s changed a little bit over the last 12 months. That’s not my worry at the moment.”