ANTHONY Morabito says his friendship with Geelong forward Daniel Menzel has been a great source of inspiration as the luckless Docker looks to work his way back to senior football in 2016.
The 24-year-old Fremantle midfielder was a feel-good story of 2014 when he returned to AFL football for the first time since 2010 following three knee reconstructions. He played three senior games in 2014 to add to the 23 he played in his first season after he was drafted with pick No.4 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft.
Fyfe back on the track for Dockers
But Morabito did not play a single game at any level in 2015 and scarcely trained with the Dockers during the season due to ongoing soreness in his troublesome left knee.
Morabito took some time away from the club and was delisted before being re-drafted as a rookie last Friday.
But during his break, he spent some time with Menzel, who made an inspirational return to senior football in 2015 following four knee reconstructions.
"Dan has not only been a good resource but a good friend," Morabito told Fremantle's website on Tuesday.
"We got drafted the same year and we've unfortunately had a mirror set of injuries.
"When you've been through this sort of stuff you can really bounce ideas off each other, more so the mental side of things."
The time away also helped Morabito with his knee soreness. He was given permission to train with the Dockers last week prior to being re-drafted and looked in outstanding shape as he ran with the first-to-four-year players.
Morabito said he was staggered at how good he was feeling given the soreness he experienced earlier in the year.
"It's nearly surreal," Morabito said.
"If you'd told me 10 months ago that I'd be able to do day one of the pre-season unrestricted, I'd have said 'no way'.
"The body is good. I've been able to do every footy session for the past week. I'm pretty unrestricted.
"Once we start contact work, I'll be right back in, which is something I haven't been able to do for a number of years.
"It's a credit to the fitness staff to stick to the plan and get me up for the pre-season."
The full Dockers squad returned to training on Tuesday with a light session ahead of a 3km time trial on Wednesday.
