The focus on Essendon’s vastly improved injury list has centred on Scott Lucas and Mark McVeigh - both of who resumed full contact training this week – but the big success story has been the return of 24-year-old Jason Winderlich.
The veteran of 56 games also resumed full training this week after overcoming a career threatening back problem.
“There was a lot of concern about him but he has been building up now since October so it has been a really gradual return and it has gone really well,” football operations manager, Paul Hamilton, said at training today.
""After the first operation the surgeons weren’t completely happy with it so he needed to have a follow-up and that seems to have done the trick.
“He’s now at the stage where he can resume full training which is very exciting for him because he’s had a lot of heartache over the last few months - from that point of view we are really pleased and hopefully from here on he gets a good run and he gets himself into good condition.
“We are not concerned about him (playing in the) NAB Cup but, all going well, he’s got a couple of months now before the start of the season so Round 1 is certainly a possibility for him.""
Winderlich was Essendon's most improved player in 2007.
Hamilton today gave a run-down of the pre-season progress of 10 key Bombers:
Scott Lucas.
""He is back in full training. He’s been going along pretty well to be honest and we are pretty happy with him. Again, its just been a gradual process with the problems he had last year with his knee so the medical and conditioning staff wanted to ease him into things and that is what we did before Christmas and he has really stepped it up since then and is now back in full training. He hasn’t missed a beat in terms of his rehab and he’s feeling really confident which is half the battle. If he can get some good training sessions and games under his belt then he is one that we are looking at to play Round 1 of the season. He’s got that (fitness) base so he’s fine and he does a lot of work off his feet so, conditioning wise, he’s been terrific in his attention to detail so we are confident he will be good to go,"" Hamilton said.
Mark McVeigh.
""Mark was looking terrific in pre-season and, in fact, he is one of very few players to be injured during the course of the pre-season which was back in December. He had a break near the toe and its gone to plan so he’s had six to eight weeks of rehab but he is now right to go. He probably won’t play Round 1 of the NAB Cup,"" Hamilton said.
Matthew Lloyd.
""Had some tightness before Christmas so we eased off on him but he’s training well and we are happy with him. We have taken it easy with him pre-Christmas but we have built him up since then and he is right to go,"" Hamilton said.
David Hille.
""I think he stayed away from the beach on the weekend (laughs). He was lucky the (stingray) barb didn’t hit the muscle so he is fine to go,"" Hamilton said.
Alwyn Davey.
""He is just awaiting the surgeons tick to say ‘join in’. He looks great; he’s done nearly everything except the full contact type work. He is not quite ready to play yet but he’s done just about everything else. We will hear from the surgeon in the next few weeks to say he is ready to go or not,"" Hamilton said.
Brent Prismall.
""He is very professional but he is obviously a long way off yet but he’s training well and we are really happy with the way he is going. You can just see the determination he’s got and it’s infectious, really, the way he’s going about his work,"" Hamilton said.
Scott Gumbleton and David Myers.
""They are both training well so we are really happy they have gotten over their concerns. They had operations and started the pre-season in rehab but are both training full-time,"" Hamilton said.
Darcy Daniher.
""He hasn’t joined in full training just yet. He’s another one that had a back problem and it’s a gradual thing with him to work into things. The doctors have been really happy with his progress since Christmas. He’s not too far away from joining in full competitive work. He’s not there yet but his progress over the last three weeks has been really encouraging,"" Hamilton said.
Jay Neagle.
""He’s going well. We haven’t had too many concerns with him over the pre-season. He’s a big, strong lad so all Essendon supporters would love to see him out there and playing good football because we have seen glimpses of what he is capable of and it’s players like him that we need to step–up this season. That entire younger group, Courtenay Dempsey, Scott Gumbleton and so on, if they are able to stay injury free and have an impact this year then I think that will really excite Essendon fans,"" Hamilton said.
