Rory Sloane says he’s just happy to be back playing footy after being sidelined for the most difficult period in Adelaide’s history.

Sloane, 25, fractured his cheekbone for the second time this season in the Club’s win over Brisbane at the Gabba on Round 13 – six days before the tragic passing of Senior Coach Phil Walsh.

A respected member of Adelaide’s senior leadership group, the midfielder displayed strength and great care for his teammates off the field as the Club tried to come to grips with the sudden loss.

But Sloane, who epitomises the ‘team-first’ value Walsh demanded, was frustrated and devastated he couldn’t contribute on the field. Instead, he was a restless spectator in the coaches’ box as the Crows played emotion-charged games against West Coast and then Port Adelaide.

“It has been tough, mainly, because you just want to help the other boys out,” Sloane said after his return game against Gold Coast on Saturday.

“That West Coast game, watching that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Just seeing how much pain the boys were in after the game.

“I would’ve done anything to be able to help them out.”

Sloane, who missed a month with the same injury earlier in the year, consulted Club medical staff and his surgeon about wearing a helmet to speed up his return.

The 2013 Crows Club Champion trialled the customised helmet at training and, after receiving the all clear to resume playing, made his comeback against the Suns at Adelaide Oval.

Sloane’s appearance was different, with his long blond locks restrained by the headgear, but his approach was not.

Within the opening eight minutes of the game, the influential onballer threw himself headfirst at a contest, tapping the ball to a teammate and setting up Adelaide’s first goal to captain Taylor Walker.

He finished the game with 19 possessions, five clearances, five tackles, two goals and two goal assists. Half of Sloane’s touches resulted in Crow scores.

“I’ve been itching to play a game for the last month,” he said.

“I felt really good actually. I was bouncing around. In that last quarter, it sort of hit me. I was just really happy to be back out there.”

Sloane wasn’t distracted by his new headgear, but removed it every time he came to the interchange bench to avoid ‘overheating’.

“It was hot at times. I trained with it during the week and I cooked up!” he said.

“It actually didn’t get as hot as I thought today. I probably got a half-decent day to wear the helmet because if the sun as out, it would’ve been horrible I reckon.

“I’ll wear it for, maybe, another week or two. I’ll just see. I might speak to the surgeon again and just see how it’s all healing up.

“It wasn’t too bad, actually. I felt confident that I could chuck my head in – that certainly didn’t faze me at all.”

The Crows led the Suns from start to finish on Saturday, but weren’t convincing until the final quarter. The home team piled on eight goals in the last term to turn a nine-point lead at three-quarter time into a comfortable 45-point win.

“In the first half, we had glimpses but couldn’t quite put them away,” Sloane said.

“They hung in there, but I was really impressed with that last quarter. That’s how we wanted to play football the whole day. We put ourselves in a position where it was going to be close, but throughout this season we’ve won all the close games and that gave us a bit of confidence going into the last quarter.

“Last week was a massive step in the right direction and I think today was as well.”

The Crows will have to take another significant step to topple the Sydney Swans at home next week.

Sloane said his team was ready to test itself against a top-four team.

“It’s going to be super tough. They’re a very good side and they play that ground (the SCG) really well. It’s a great challenge for us, but one we need coming into the back half of the year,” he said.