If you’ll allow me to counter your counterpoint. You said it yourself, you didn’t enter the group for the first time, you returned. You’ve already put your time in, and proven yourself. And the other seniors obviously trusted that you could get yourself quickly caught up with any new tactics or events you missed in the interim.
Now I’ll admit when you, and later Brenner, turned up out of nowhere, I was confused and a little annoyed (please don’t take this personally, I’m kind of a dick) for the same reasons you stated. But it would have been even more unfair to you to have to start all over again.