After weeks of just running laps, I'm about to hit the track for real, getting back out there with the other boys doing proper footy training.
I'm pretty optimistic about it all – I'm 100 per cent certain that I'll play at least two or three games, hopefully in the Richmond senior team.
The injury – it was a torn hamstring tendon, and I don't blame you if you can't remember that, it feels like it was years ago that I did it – is going really well. I'm back to full-pace running, and I'll be joining in with the full group either later this week or first thing next week for skills, so it's really coming along well.
I guess now I really feel like I've got over the hill and I'm coming down the other side. I'm getting pretty excited – for a month there you're just trudging around on your own doing rehab, and it's very hard to be motivated and positive, but once you start realising you're about to get back in with the group, the excitement and the motivation come rushing back because you're so keen to get out there.
Once you do that, you need to then complete about three weeks of full training, maybe a little more, so tentatively we're looking at about round 18 or 19. Of course, that depends on how it responds to full training – twisting, turning, jumping, landing. If it responds well we're looking at round 18, but it could be a little bit after that if it doesn't go quite as well as we hope.
Clearly, the days of coming straight back into the AFL after a significant layoff are gone – I'll be back through the VFL, like quite a few of us have been this year. The footy's too hard now and you can't just go straight out there and expect to slot into AFL level footy immediately, so I think you need a game to adjust a little bit.
People keep asking me what it's like to have my brother-in-law as coach. I can tell you he's going really well – I haven't really had a lot to do with him yet in his role as senior coach, because he's obviously got other things to worry about rather than blokes out there running around doing laps as part of their rehab, but I see what's happening and how he's doing things and it's all good.
We speak every day, obviously – when you walk into the club you touch base and talk about the footy, or what's on for the week, but I'm sure it's going to be different when I'm talking to him about where I'm going to be playing on the weekend, or what sort of role he wants me to play.
We haven't had those discussions yet, but I'm certainly looking forward to it.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
