BRISBANE Lions recruit Allen Christensen is hopeful of making a round one debut for his new club, with the ex-Cat showing encouraging progress following back surgery.
Christensen went under the knife twice last year to fix his ailing back, with the first bout of surgery in February ruling him out of the opening 13 rounds.
The 23-year-old midfielder returned to play eight games, but he required more surgery in September and missed Geelong's finals campaign.
Now settled into his new surroundings, Christensen had been working out on the Alter-G treadmill but is back running on hard ground and strengthening his back, core and legs.
In more positive news for Justin Leppitsch's men, NAB AFL Rising Star Lewis Taylor has returned to full training after a bout of knee tendonitis.
Taylor was on modified duties until just prior to the Christmas break, but re-joined the full squad when they returned to the track with a 2km time trial on Monday.
It was a familiar result in the trial, with midfielder Nick Robertson leading home 196cm key forward Michael Close.
Speedy midfielder Dayne Zorko and another big forward, 194cm Marco Paparone, were next across the line.
Trent West took another step in his rehabilitation from a knee reconstruction by completing the time trial and the ruckman is conservatively looking at a mid-season return after going down last May.
Meanwhile, star midfielder Daniel Rich is continuing to impress in his comeback from a ruptured ACL.
The West Australian product is ahead of schedule and is eyeing the NAB Challenge for his likely return to action.
Injury-plagued utility Brent Staker is flying this pre-season, however key position player Luke McGuane is still experiencing some soreness in his knee post-surgery and is struggling to complete back-to-back sessions.
The Lions have undergone a searching pre-season, with ex-Collingwood star Dayne Beams and dumped Carlton midfielder Mitch Robinson among those who have commented on the challenging nature of the sessions.
