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Kirk Penney has emerged unscathed following his first game for the Breakers in almost two months.
Last season's league MVP started off the bench and played through three quarters in Thursday night's 94-77 win over the Cairns Taipans.
Penney signalled to everyone that he was back at his best early in the second quarter when he drove the ball to the hoop, drawing big body contact.
He got checked by Taipan Adam Grabau, slamming to the floor right on his back but jumped straight up in no pain whatsoever.
From there Penney warmed back into his match fitness and capped his performance off with four three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
He ended his night with just under 21 minutes on court, scoring 22 points along with two rebounds and two steals.
At the post-game press conference, Penney said his body felt even better than he had expected.
"I feel great," he said.
"Thankfully the boys have been giving me a few knocks this week so I was pretty confident I'd be ok.
"As the week went on they got more confident with me and stopped treating me like I was made of paper.
"I'm just rapt to be out there playing again. Just being out for eight weeks made me appreciate being part of a team environment.
"We have a wonderful team and we've gone through six losses but I hope we've learnt a lot from it."
Penney's triumphant return was also a welcome sight for coach Andrej Lemanis.
With Penney attracting a great deal of attention from the Cairns defenders, the Breakers were able to share the scoring all around the roster.
His aggression taking the ball into the paint consistently left team-mates open around the perimeter.
Oscar Forman was the greatest benefactor with a game-high 23 points, including seven threes and eight rebounds.
"Certainly having all your weapons available helps," Lemanis said.
"Kirk attracts a lot of attention, he's aggressive to the rim and that opens up opportunities for other people.
"Adding Kirk back into the mix and the aggression he brings allows Oscar and others to get some more open looks."
