Bomber mid-fielder Joe Misiti took his first tentative steps towards recovery at Essendon training tonight when he walked some slow laps while his teammates trained. Misiti is recovering from arthroscopic surgery - an operation whcih cleaned up the posterior cruciate ligament he tore against Carlton in round three. Misiti is expected to be sidelined for at least another three weeks but he was his usual jovial self as he walked slowly around Windy Hill chatting to supporters. Missing from the main session tonight were Damien Hardwick, Blake Caracella and John Barnes.

""We rotate players off the training track throughout the season and it was those players' turn tonight. It is a program we have put in place to keep players fresh,"" Essendon football manager Matthew Drain said. Chris Heffernan continued his push for a return to football in round eight, spending the night running laps.