In his second match back from a serious neck injury, Simon White impressed for the Northern Blues in their 44-point defeat to Frankston in a VFL practice match last night at Visy Park.

After fracturing his vertebrae in a VFL match against Box Hill last year, White said the neck injury that cut short his 2013 season was behind him and that he was now concentrating solely on his game.

"The neck is feeling really good. I certainly haven’t had any residual effects from the injury," White said.

"It is good to be back playing and especially being out of the brace; the neck injury hasn't held me back."

After being in a neck brace for eight weeks stretching from his neck to his waist – meanwhile desperately trying to conceal his support structure through a wide range of hoodies – White returned for his first match in seven months last weekend in the VFL against North Ballarat.

"As I said, it's just good to be back playing. I had had a bit of an interrupted pre-season through some ankle surgery I had which also held me back," White said.

“To get that first game under the belt was important for the confidence more than anything else."

“Tonight was another step in the right direction. Also for the team as well, we took a while, but we improved structurally in the final term," White said.

White, who spent the majority of the game down back before being swung forward in the last quarter, finished the game with three goals and was one of Northern's best.