Tom Scully has admitted that he has a long way to come before he returns to the top-tier of footy, as reported by SEN.
Scully broke his ankle in Round 2 this year against Collingwood at the MCG, putting a stopper on his thriving 152-game career with Greater Western Sydney.
Now Scully has joined Hawthorn as a high-profile recruit, but there's no guarantee he'll step foot on the MCG again next year as he recovers from two bouts of serious foot surgery.
"The ankle's feeling OK at the moment," Scully told reporters after a training session at Xavier College.
"I'm going to start some light loading this week, everything's on track. It's going to be a long process.
"Obviously, the Hawks are really confident as well that I can be back playing footy next year, which is my ultimate aim.
"I've been reassured it's heading in the right direction and I've had some positive results of late.
"If anything, (the medical) actually reassured me they're confident they can get my ankle right and for me that was a big thing.
"Obviously, there's an element of risk for everyone involved here, but as I said, it's not all doom and gloom – I'm pretty confident."
Scully was taken with pick one in the 2009 AFL National Draft, but was traded from Greater Western Sydney for the cheap price of a future fourth round pick due to the severity of his injury.
