MELBOURNE midfielder Jack Trengove has been cleared to begin running again by his surgeon, in a significant recovery milestone for the former No.2 draft pick.
Trengove – who has not played since round two, 2014 –had a scan on his fractured foot on Monday and the results showed the bone has been healing well.
Melbourne elite performance manager Dave Misson said it was good news as far as Trengove's chances of playing at the start of 2016 were concerned.
“The scan showed that his bone is continuing to heal and the surgeon was very positive about him moving into a running phase of his program over the next few weeks, and then progressing it over the next couple of months," Misson told the club's website.
After a promising beginning, Trengove's career has been stalled by multiple surgeries – in April last year and then in October – to repair breaks in the navicular bone of his left foot.
The 23-year-old, who re-signed with the club until the end of 2016, told AFL.com.au recently that he could not wait to begin the critical stage of his recovery.
"It's no fun watching," Melbourne's former co-captain said.
"I can't wait to get out and start running again because that's when you feel like you're taking big steps."
Misson said the club would formulate a plan for how Trengove's recovery would track from here.
“Jack’s pretty pleased and we’ll sit down this week and have a look at what his program is structured like. But it’s real positive news for him. He’s a reasonably happy boy this morning," he said.
Jack Trengove chats with Christian Petracca at Melbourne training. Picture: AFL Media