He didn't know if he wanted to go back to Essendon or if he could. He talked to other clubs about moving, sat with a long and strong contract offer from Collingwood, and the Bulldogs were courting. But his heart wasn't in it.

As upset as he was a year earlier when he walked out the door, those emotions had settled. As time passed the idea of who he was, what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be crystallised in his mind, but it took time.

In the meantime he became an observer in his own life as he watched and listened with amusement as myriad people presumed to speak with great knowledge of what he would do next with his career at a time when he wasn't sure himself.

"You can sit back and laugh because people were making assumptions about what I would do and you are entitled to your opinion, I suppose, but when people were speaking like they knew what I was thinking I thought that was funny. It was similar to the emotions around the suspension. Early on I wasn't really sure what to do but the longer it went the clearer it became," he said.

"It was a funny one hearing from people one day that you are going here and one day you are going there but it came down to me and my family and my decision."

The decision on whether he would stay or go was not clear-cut nor immediate, because his thoughts were not clear-cut, and his emotions, at least in the immediate sense, needed to be given time to sort themselves out.

He had not seen the suspension coming, not a ban that would stop him playing for a year anyway. He had been an affected party but not an interested one for he left the minutiae of the case to others and relied on the feedback from the club, their lawyers and the AFLPA.

"It was a complete shock for me, the boys had had a few meetings before that with the lawyers but I had kept clear of that so that day was even more so a shock for me," he said.

"I think the shock was a bit from being reassured everything would be OK. I think in the back of my mind, being suspended was an option but for that length of time I wasn't expecting that at all.

"It was a roller coaster of emotions from day to day, week to week. You feel positive again and something would remind you you were not playing footy or something would pop up. It was a tough year, it was a funny year. I am glad it is all over now."

So, like the other players, he got away. His enforced football "gap year" delivered him the unexpected benefit of a normalised life. He did what other 20-somethings get to do but footballers don't. He travelled, he put his world into perspective and cleared his head.

He resolved that when he walked in the door of the club again for the first time he was not going to look back. It was a new club.

That is almost impossible because all anyone could think of and talk about was what had happened before, but he was resolute in his view that the step in the door might be a step back to his old club but it would not be a step back to the club as it were.

"I thought about when I come back in, that stuff is gone and we are moving forward. It's no good bringing up what has happened in the past," he said.

"There were nerves even going out and training again but at the same time they are great nerves to have.

"I feel like I have just been drafted and coming into the club."

The beard is the next to go in the figurative wiping of the slate. The beard started in a Big Lebowski sort of way as he worked through that stuff. At first he just couldn't be bothered.

"It was probably just lack of motivation more than anything. Nothing specific, I just had no motivation to shave and then it got a bit longer so I just kept it," he said.

"I didn't really grow it for charity, I just didn't shave from when we got suspended and it just carried on. Now the suspension is over I decided shave for charity. I have been involved with the MAD foundation through my manager and it seemed right because one of the organisers there, Michael Thorn, can't grow a beard or even a wispy moustache, so I thought it was appropriate to donate my whiskers."

He trained during his suspension but without physical contact he ran more than he normally would so his weight is down a bit and he is leaner for muscle than is his norm. That will come back, though, before games are played, he figures.

"It's a pretty unique situation. Some clubs at the end of the year might have seven or eight players turned over but we have 29 players who have never played together. That is pretty rare and I think it shows we probably do have a fair bit of work to do to gel and learn how each other plays, but at the same time that's exciting, a lot of fresh faces."

When he does return it will be to the back line. John Worsfold is happy for him to return to the back line and that is where Hurley wants to be.

"I am pretty sure Woosha's opinion is that I am a defender, I hope that is the case anyway, I am pretty certain I am a defender.

"Having Joey Daniher down there, Mitch Brown, who had an impressive year there last year, James Stewart is a great acquisition and Cale Hooker played the back half of 2015 as a forward so I don't think there will be the need for me to go [forward]."

Playing games again will be the moment he feels things are back to normal again.

Like his decision when walking back into the club that it was all about tomorrow, not yesterday. He has not turned his mind to how he and the other players will be received next year, and he is untroubled either way.

"I am not really focused on what other people think at the moment, it's more about us being back at the club again and playing."