Big name Bomber recruit Mark Williams will return from an ankle injury with the Bendigo Bombers this weekend.
The 27-year-old West Australian forward has struggled to overcome the problem - which was sustained in the VFL this season - and will face surgery if it continues to trouble him.
""They’ve rested him, he’s had a couple of weeks off, so this is his final shot to see if we can get him up and going,"" General manager of football operations Paul Hamilton said on The Recovery Room today.
""He will be available to play this week; the medical staff have said he’ll be alright to play and he trained yesterday.
""If he’s still having troubles and concerns with it in another week or two, we have to look at having surgery, but he’s almost definitely going to have to have surgery at the end of the year.""
Hamilton described the injury as ""a serious ankle problem, but a manageable one"" admitting it has troubled the 115 game veteran ""quite a bit"" this year.
""If we feel that he’s really not coping with the injury, we’re just going to have to bite the bullet and say 'ok, that’s it for the year, get him in for surgery', and start looking into next pre-season,"" Hamilton said.
""He can do things, but he’s in pain. They’re trying another technique with the physio at the moment; this (weekend) is sort of his last shot at it, really.""