Veteran Eagle Sam Butler says it was pleasing to see Mitch Brown terrorising forwards in his return to football at the weekend.

Brown was one of West Coast’s best players in the club’s opening NAB Challenge fixture against Adelaide, physically bullying some of Crows' most prominent goal-kickers throughout the bout at Unley Oval.

Discounting match simulation at training and one intra-club game, Sunday’s contest was Brown’s first outing since tearing his ACL in the opening round of the Eagles’ 2015 premiership tilt.

He might not have shown it on the field, but Brown was a bundle of nerves before taking the field, according to Butler.

“Mitch was a bit nervous before the game,” Butler told 6PR.

“He missed the whole year and we’ve seen people come back from injuries and see them reoccur. We reminded him how much fun it is…and that he’d much rather be where he is now, giving himself a chance, than where he was last year sitting and watching.”

Butler said Brown didn’t miss a beat against Adelaide and noted how fearlessly he threw himself into the contest in spite of his pre-game jitters.

“He played well. He looked like himself,” Butler said.

“He’s a physical specimen; he’s quick and he can jump and he showed that all today. We were just pumped to have him back out there.”