DELISTED Geelong small forward Cory Gregson hasn't given up hope of resurrecting his 39-game AFL career.
The Cats parted ways with the 22-year-old, who has had four surgeries on his troublesome left foot.
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Gregson – whose most productive season was in 2015 when he played 20 senior games for the Cats – said clubs had reached out to his manager Tim Lawrence, and also to Cats list manager Stephen Wells.
"A couple have rang Tim, my manager, and I think maybe one or two have called Wellsy as well," Gregson told NAB AFL Trade Radio on Thursday.
"It's positive signs at the moment, but it's still very early.
"I think I'll be in a different category to the Trade Period, so I've got a bit of time up my sleeve."
Gregson, originally from South Australia, can be signed as a delisted free agent, allowing clubs to pick him up without having to give up a player or draft pick in return.
He played 10 senior games for the Cats this season before feeling pain in his foot during a VFL game.
He had surgery in July to insert a screw into his navicular bone to deal with a stress fracture, and has returned to running with the assistance of an anti-gravity machine.
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Gregson said he had problems after his first couple of surgeries due to having the wrong screws inserted into the bone.
"The first two for mine were just the wrong screws put in my navicular," he said.
"They were a tad too big, which caused the bone to crack again and needed to have the next two surgeries.
"One minute it can be going really well, the next minute you can hit a little slump, then you can come good really quickly again."
Gregson will continue his rehabilitation with the Cats until he's picked up by another club, or until he's ready to go out on his own.
"The Cats have told me as long as I need, until I feel comfortable leaving the club," Gregson said.
"If I do get that next opportunity then I'll do my rehab with them, but worse-case scenario and I don't get picked up again, the club said I can continue to use it until both parties are really confident of me doing it by myself."
Gregson was given a heads up by Lawrence a couple of weeks before the end of the season that he probably wasn't going to be re-signed.
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"I had a bit of time to prepare myself, so I thought I'd do a good job, but when Stephen Wells told me, it was heartbreaking pretty much," he said.
"(My) childhood dream (was) then taken away, unfortunately.
"I didn't really talk to the (Geelong) guys too much about that, purely because I was quite upset and I wanted to get away.
"Timmy, when he spoke to Wellsy, just said unfortunately the body just didn't hold up enough for them.
"They've obviously got a host of small forwards now, so I just wasn't needed."
Gregson said he was "90 per cent" sure that if he wasn't picked up, he would return to South Australia and play in the SANFL next year.
