GARY Rohan quietly achieved another significant milestone this week in the young Sydney Swan's recovery from his broken leg –the word "indefinite" was no longer next to his name on the club injury list.
From the time Rohan suffered his fractured tibia against North Melbourne in round four last year, the dreaded "I" word has perpetually appeared next to his name.
But this week, it was replaced by the incredibly heartening term "3-4 weeks".
Rohan, who turned 22 earlier this month, is still some distance away from a return to any level of football and has slipped to 28th at the Swans in the Official AFL Player Ratings due to his absence.
But he has gradually increased his workload and could take part in the Swans' main training session for the first time as early as next week.
From there it is a case of monitoring his progress, with chances seemingly improving that the speedy redhead – who acted as a team runner for the reserves two weeks ago – may play football in 2013.
"He's getting close," Swans physio Matt Cameron told the club's website.
"He's certainly doing the full first session of the week and is building the time of our main session.
"In another week or so he'll be full training."
Rohan's broken bones have completely healed and the challenge now is to get his fitness back up to speed.
A popular member of the team, coach John Longmire said last week the club will continue to be extremely cautious with the talented Swan.
"We've been really pleased with the amount of training he's been doing and he's been going really well and has looked fantastic at training," Longmire said.
"(But) he's still got a few weeks to go before he gets a few full sessions under his belt before we even consider playing him."
Alex Johnson, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the pre-season, is another Swan to chalk up a milestone this week, running for the first time since his reconstruction in late March.
The 21-year-old, who played every game during last year's premiership campaign, is effectively in the process of starting his 2014 pre-season.
"He's hit the period of time where the surgeon is happy for him to start running," Cameron said.
"We're really happy with him and we've got started on that and he looked great running to start with.
"His pre-season sort of starts now."
Elsewhere, Rhyce Shaw (abdominal) and Lewis Roberts-Thomson (knee) are making progress, but are still more than a month away from a return.
Ruckman Shane Mumford is back running following surgery on his fractured cheekbone and should be back in three weeks.
And Ted Richards' younger brother Xavier has been promoted to the club's senior list.
While the 20-year-old key position prospect won't be making his debut this weekend, he has been promoted as cover due to a spot being available on the senior list.
Rohan, Johnson and Tommy Walsh (hamstring) are all on the long-term injury list, with only Brandon Jack and Dane Rampe promoted so far this year.
Marty Mattner's recent retirement due to his chronic hip injury also means another senior spot could be available if required during the season.
James Dampney is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD
