A club's best recruit doesn't always come from the draft or the trade table. More often than not, the best recruits come from the rehab group - a player returning to the main group after a long injury layoff.
We analyse some of the competition's best players set to return from injury in 2026.
8Cody Weightman
2025 was a disaster for lively small forward Weightman. He didn't feature once as he suffered from the rare condition bipartite patella, where the patella forms as two separate bones instead of one. After five bouts of surgery, he looks set to return to the Dogs' forward line in 2026.
Incredibly dangerous in the air and at ground level, Weightman has proven a handful for defenders across the early part of his career, kicking 126 goals from 76 games. He has put together some remarkable individual performances through his career to date, including two six-goal hauls.
Weightman will be a welcome addition to the Dogs' forward line after finishing ninth in 2025. Although star big men Sam Darcy and Aaron Naughton had big years ahead of the ball for the Dogs, they lacked spark at ground level, and Weightman provides exactly that.
