NORTH Melbourne jet Tarryn Thomas is set for a speedy return from a brutal collision sustained last month, with the club confident he will make his comeback ahead of Sunday's clash with Geelong in Tasmania.

Thomas has trained fully for the best part of two weeks after enduring internal bruising as a result of an accidental kick to the rib region, having attempted to lay a smother on West Coast's Luke Foley in round two.

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The Kangaroos' initial fears were that Thomas could miss up to two months as a result of the injury, having spent two nights being monitored in hospital as the club continued to investigate the extent of his internal bruising.

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More Kangaroos carnage with Thomas done

North Melbourne has suffered another injury concern with Tarryn Thomas finished for the day after hurting his ribs

Published on Mar 27, 2022

But the classy 22-year-old has made a quicker-than-expected recovery and, should he gain approval from a specialist later this week, will make his return against the Cats at Blundstone Arena this weekend.

"He's had a couple of good weeks training," the club's football boss Dan McPherson said.
"He went back and had a scan (on Tuesday), he's just got to wait to get the tick-off from the specialist. But the medical guys are pretty confident that he'll be right to play this weekend and we're looking forward to that."

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However, North Melbourne will have to wait at least another week for the return of experienced midfielder Jed Anderson after he sustained a hamstring strain during his VFL comeback on the weekend.

Anderson played almost the entirety of a reserves fixture against the Western Bulldogs last Friday as he made his bid to return to senior action, finishing with 23 disposals, but is unlikely to be available for selection this week.

"He played about 80 per cent game time and went really well, but he's pulled up quite sore in one of his hamstrings," McPherson said.

"If it was a final, we'd probably play him. But we'll probably take the cautious approach, given he's had an interrupted pre-season. He probably won't play this week, but we fully expect he'll play next week."

Jed Anderson at North Melbourne training on April 5, 2022. Picture: @NMFCOfficial Twitter

The Kangaroos will regain Cam Zurhaar from the AFL's 12-day concussion protocols, while a nine-day break will also give fellow forward Jack Mahony an extended chance to prove his fitness following an ankle injury suffered in last week's loss to the Bulldogs.

However, veteran defender Aaron Hall is set to miss around a month after he was substituted out of the side's Good Friday defeat to the Bulldogs with his second hamstring injury of the season.