Port Adelaide is confident captain Connor Rozee could be fit and available for Round 1 against North Melbourne, with his rehab on a positive trajectory, according to the club's director of high-performance Tim Parham.
Rozee has been sidelined since Round 2 after he suffered a severe hamstring injury, which involved nerve damage that has taken longer to recover.
Footage of the Power skipper emerged earlier this week as the club returned for the pre-season, suggesting he is making positive moves towards joining full training.
"The drill integration piece is the next phase of his rehab. There's a time component to this. This is not something you can speed up with different treatments or rehab philosophies," Parham said on SEN.
"What we're seeing from Connor, and because he's an exceptional athlete, is ripping around in drills. What people weren't seeing in September, October, he was at the club three, four days a week.
"He's moving at a really good level. But he's not quite there. We're bullish that Round 1 is still four-and-a-half months away and the trajectory is really positive."
Rozee was sent to the UK for a minor procedure to help clean up lingering scar tissue that had built up around his nerve.
The leader tore his hamstring tendon off the bone, with the traumatic nature of the injury not a "garden-variety" issue.
"It was pretty unique in terms of trauma to the hamstring," Parham said.
"What we didn't anticipate was the actual trauma of the nerve in that instance, and I suppose the other thing is the network we have who are looking into this. We are very delicate with our management of Connor."
Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr has been buoyed by the skipper's off-season, seeing him at the club and preparing for the gruelling summer months ahead of 2027.
“I was really confident; it was probably more for you guys to see it, to be honest,” Carr said.
“I've seen him over the break in here and doing the work, working on his body and joining in certain drills.
“So I think for our supporters to see him and get a bit of confidence that it is not as bad as what people probably think it is, and as much as there is a lot of unknown about it, the known part is that it is improving and getting better.
“To put a specific date on it is really hard, but at the same time we've got a good time frame of what that is looking like and the improvement that it has taken over the last month or two.”
Carr said Rozee is a player "pretty free in the mind", and will be a welcome return to the senior side, especially given the departure of close mate and star midfielder Zak Butters.
“I love seeing those mock drafts now when they go back; a year ago he was probably top two or three and then all of a sudden he's slid down the pecking order,” he said.
“So you get forgotten about pretty quick in this game.
“And that is always a good message to all our players.
“When you've had a year out of the game, you can get forgotten about pretty quickly, so it won't take him long to get those guys back.
“I look at him and think he has definitely matured and definitely got a lot out of these last eight to nine months.
“Whether that is improvement individually, perspective on the game and what that looks like, a lot of learnings from being able to sit in the box or on the bench and watch footy; for me I feel like it has been outstanding for him to sort of sit back and just understand himself, the team and us as a footy club.
“I see a guy who looks pretty free in the mind and pretty excited about playing AFL footy.”
