Jason Porplyzia (ankles), Jared Petrenko (shoulder), Ricky Henderson (finger), Matt Jaensch (groin), Luke Thompson (ankle) and Tim McIntyre (shoulder) are recovering from post-season surgery.
Porplyzia is progressing well after having minor operations on both ankles and new physical performance manager Nick Poulos said he expected the skilful forward to return to full training before the Christmas break.
“Jason is back running in a controlled environment on the Alter-G (anti-gravity treadmill),” Poulos told afc.com.au.
“He’ll progress gradually over the next few weeks with the aim of joining the main group a week or so before Christmas. We won’t rush him though because it’ll be a really good pre-season for him if we get it right.”
Petrenko, who dislocated his shoulder in the dying stages of the Semi-Final win over Fremantle, is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation from reconstructive surgery, while rookie Tim McIntyre has almost fully recovered from a minor shoulder operation.
“Jared had a positive visit to the surgeon last week. His recovery is progressing a bit better than anticipated, which is a really good sign,” Poulos said.
“He should start running this week. Tim is pretty much ready to go. We’ll monitor his contact in the first week or so, but he’s otherwise fine.”
Jaensch had surgery to remedy a nagging groin injury in August and will be eased back into training over the next 2-3 weeks. Henderson will also have similar return date in mind after having an operation on his finger, while Bernie Vince will have a couple of weeks of light duties to rest a sore shoulder.
“Ricky he won’t be in full training on Monday but he’ll still be able to run and do a lot of work,” Poulos said.
“He’ll be drip-fed back into the program over the next few weeks. Bernie’s injury is minor. It’ll only set him back a little, but it will give us a good chance to get him stronger in his lower body.”
Young defender Luke Thompson will have to be a little more patient in his recovery from ankle surgery. Thompson is out of the moon boot, but will remain on a modified program in the lead-up to Christmas.
Daniel Talia has fully recovered from a fractured forearm sustained in the finals series.
