Canterbury star Kieran Foran admits last year's injury-riddled campaign was all the motivation he needed to come back early from his latest ankle issue.
Foran was initially ruled out for three months when he went down in late March, but missed just five games before coming back two weeks ago.
It is believed surgeons opted to repair his ligaments with a tightrope instead of the more traditional form of inserting a screw into his ankle.
His latest injury comeback comes after his first season at the Bulldogs last year was limited to just 12 games due to a various issues.
"It was good to recover as fast as I did from the surgery," Foran said on Tuesday.
"I didn't want to miss a big chunk of this year, having already missed a large chunk last year so I was pretty determined to get back out there.
"It's just great to be back out there with the boys."
Foran's health this year is critical for a Bulldogs side forced to squeeze a large chunk of experience from their roster due to salary cap issues.
Asked how his body was feeling after two games back, Foran said: "It's alright. I'm doing everything right, taking care of it, and it seems to be responding well."
The former New Zealand skipper is also the leader of a youthful Bulldogs spine that includes Nick Meaney, Jack Cogger and Jeremy Marshall-King.
He is the only player out of the four to have played more than 34 NRL games, however Foran is liking his time with his current partner Cogger.
"He's getting better and better each game," Foran said.
"We're just trying to do our role for the side and get the boys around the park and I thought he did a tremendous job of that on the weekend."
While the Bulldogs have occupied bottom spot for most of the season, last week's win lifted them to 14th spot - and two wins out of the top eight.
They can close the gap when they host Melbourne in their first game of the season at Belmore - Foran's first match at the club's spiritual venue.
However Foran insists their focus remains on notching back-to-back wins.
"We'd love to get back-to-back wins for the first time this year. We haven't been able to do that. That's the big challenge for us this weekend," he said.
The Bulldogs have lost six of seven matches since returning to Belmore in 2015, which followed a 17-year absence from the venue.
