Melbourne's Kysaiah Pickett has returned from Darwin and is training with the club at Casey Fields ahead of Sunday's Round 1 clash against St Kilda.
Pickett jetted to the Northern Territory, and has been on personal leave in Darwin over the last few days following the split between he and his partner. He returned to Melbourne last night ahead of Friday's main training session.
He is ready to go for the season opener.
Demons coach Steven King was confident on Wednesday that the gun would be available for selection, and is open to helping Pickett throughout the season if needed.
"We were pretty proactive with it, Kozzy needed to get back for family reasons and I fully support any father at our club to make sure they get to support their family," King said.
"That's something I want to provide flexibility for our staff and players that family is equally or more important than just the game of footy.
"I think moving forward, we'll set up an opportunity if there is a requirement for him to go back throughout the season.
"That will be structured, with the facilities they have up there, like the Michael Long Centre, Michael McLean is up there, and a lot of us, and through Kozzy, have a lot of contacts in the Northern Territory.
"So, if he does have to go back, once a month or so, we'll make sure he ticks off what he needs to do from a physical standpoint and obviously, he doesn't miss out from an education point of view of what we need to keep growing in our game."
Melbourne will name their final team for Sunday's game at 5pm on Friday.
The Demons are set to unveil a host of new faces, such as Jack Steele, Brody Mihocek and Changkuoth Jiath.
Pickett's cousin, Latrelle Pickett, is also in the frame to debut, while recruit Max Heath has also been named on the extended squad.
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