Carlton coach Michael Voss has stated star midfielder Sam Walsh could be reinjected into full training before Round 1 after making strong strides following back surgery.
Walsh, 22, went under the knife prior to the Blues' Christmas break in an effort to remove sections of a bulging disc that was creating stress on the midfielder's nerves.
While initially expected to miss the first month of the 2023 season, the one-time All-Australian has ticked boxes smoothly along his road to recovery.
Though a thorough timeline for the Rising Star winner's return is yet to be revealed, Voss told AFL Media that Walsh would likely have a month's training block under his belt before rejoining Carlton's quest for a finals place.
"I would have thought it (full training) would be close to Round 1," Voss expressed.
"It'll be a couple of weeks' time. He'll slowly integrate over the next couple of weeks, so we'll start to see him integrate back into skills. But until he gets session after session and he can back it up, that'll give us a better idea on approximately where he's going to be."
Despite expectations that Walsh would still miss the Blues' opening four fixtures of the year, Voss delineated that he believed the vast majority of the rehabilitation program was behind his vital cog.
"I think he's three-quarters of the way through it or thereabouts," Voss said of Walsh.
"We still are at that stage where while he's progressing quite well, we still think that the timeline hasn't really changed for us. We'll just wait to see where he's at come Round1, then we can make some better decisions there."
Voss also outlined exactly why the Baggers were taking a cautious approach with Walsh, claiming calculations would trump estimations.
"The reason why we're a little bit more hesitant is because until he starts joining in with the footy program and being a bit more consistent, that tells you a little bit about where he's got to go. That gives you much better feedback than just guessing. We have been a bit slower to make a call on that, but it's for a very good reason why we have," the second-year coach added.
Should Walsh's timeline for return remain on track, the Camperdown native will first lace the boots during Carlton's Round 5 clash against Adelaide in Gather Round, ending an eight-month layoff between appearances.
Walsh last featured for the Blues during their devastating Round 22 defeat to the Demons in early August and was forced to watch on with bated breath as Carlton was pipped by Collingwood on the home and away season's final day.
Carlton is scheduled to play a pair of practice matches against Collingwood and Sydney over the next fortnight before tackling Richmond (A), Geelong (H), GWS (A) and North Melbourne (A) throughout the opening month of the 2023 season.
