One of the AFL's most famous proverbs is 'a week is a long time in football' but for Collingwood forward Jamie Elliott, a week must seem like no time at all.
Before suiting up for the Pies against Geelong in Round 1, Elliott hadn't graced an AFL match since Round 23, 2017. Despite missing Collingwood's Grand Final assault in 2018 with a mire of hamstring and ankle issues, he's slotted back seamlessly into a forward line which is vastly different to the one which he last played in almost two years ago.
Teammate Adam Treloar says Elliott adds another important dimension to one of the AFL's most dynamic attacks.
"Jamie's a star. We forgot how good he is because he hasn't really played for two years," Treloar told ESPN following the Pies' 44-point win over Richmond.
"Obviously everyone's unique but his strength is that he's like a cat - he's always straight back up and first to the ball, he's obviously unbelievable aerially, and he always creates a contest."
Two years ago, Elliott was the focal point for the Pies up forward. He led Collingwood's goalkicking in both 2015 and 2017 with 35 and 34 goals respectively.
Now he has the likes of Mason Cox, a maturing Jordan De Goey, up-and-coming Jaidyn Stephenson and VFL-turned-AFL key forward Brody Mihocek to compete with. Except he isn't competing against them, he's complementing them.
The transition from high-flying, prolific goal kicker to high-flying genuine role player has been seamless for a man who has missed the better part of two years of footy. Against the Tigers, Elliott's work to assist teammates was second to none.
He had a direct hand in four goals as well as a couple of behinds. Elliott's only major for the evening came late in the piece, but it was his work up until that point which was most beneficial to the Pies, who started to streak away on the back of one of his two goal assists to headline act De Goey, who kicked five on the night.
Treloar said the beauty of Collingwood's forward setup was that Elliott no longer needed to be a focal point, and that he could turn his attention to playing the role that best suits the team on the night.
"It's not about changing the way he plays [to suit the forward line]," Treloar told ESPN. "We have a lot of really good players up there who can hit the scoreboard and also create scoring opportunities -- like Jordy, Mihocek, Cox, Travis Varcoe, Josh Thomas -- but [Elliott] just fits back in beautifully.
"When we knew he was coming back it was exciting. When we have him up forward we always look so much more dangerous and I think he's shown that in the first two weeks, so look for more of that."
The extent of Elliott's impact may be known come Saturday night when the West Coast Eagles hit the MCG for the first time since their flag win over the Pies last October.
Collingwood fans might wonder what could have been had Elliott lined up in a Magpies outfit which held a five-goal lead on Grand Final day. The good news is they might not need to wonder in 2019, as a fit and firing "Billy" might just be the missing piece in the premiership puzzle.