After three bouts of surgery in the offseason, Lachie Neale says he’s recovered well and hopes to be available for selection for round one.
The 2016 Doig Medallist had surgery on his shoulder, wrist and knee after his record breaking year, racking up 737 disposals, the highest recorded total since Champion Data became the AFL statistics provider in 1999.
After spending most of the pre-season training in the recovery group, Neale has since returned to the full squad on a modified schedule.
“I’m not doing the whole session yet, but I’m doing most of it at the moment,” Neale said.
“Hopefully, they allow me to do the full sessions next week, but at this stage but we’ll wait and see.”
Neale hopes to be ready to make an appearance in the JLT Community Series, with his eyes set on round one of the home and away season against Geelong Sunday 26 March.
“Since coming back I haven’t had any interruptions, and it’s been good. The sport science guys and physios have done a great job,” Neale said.
“The goal is to play round one, and at this stage I’ll certainly be able to do that. For the JLT Series, I’m not really sure what the map looks like at the moment but from my end I hope I can get a couple (of games) in."
Neale said he was completely pain free from his knee surgery, as he also recovers from a torn cartilage in his wrist from early in the 2016 season and a dislocated shoulder from later in the year.
Despite the delays into getting back into full training, Neale has been able to focus on his running schedule, with the aim to get back into full contact over the coming month.
After observing the team’s sessions form the sidelines, Neale knows he has his work cut out for him.
“I’ve got four weeks to sharpen up my change of direction and keep up with the boys, who are flying out there at the moment,” Neale said.
“That will take a little bit to get used to, but I’m not really expecting to be behind the 8-ball in round one.
“The (strength and conditioning) guys have mapped out a really strong program for me to be cherry ripe, and I think my body probably needed a bit of rest as well from a bit of contact, so I think it’ll be a good thing.”
