Luckless Geelong forward Daniel Menzel is hopeful but still cautious about the prospect of a return to AFL football in 2015.
Menzel, who last played a senior game for the Cats in the 2011 qualifying final and has since been through four knee reconstructions, said his latest rehabilitation was progressing "nicely", but that there still a long road ahead to return to the game.
"It's going OK at the minute," he told SEN radio on Monday. "I'm still a good six months away from being fully fit and where I want to be, so there's still a lot of work to go, but at the moment it's progressing along nicely."
Menzel has had six bouts of knee surgery since being carried off in the 2011 final against Hawthorn, missing out on the premiership Geelong won three weeks later against Collingwood.
He has had his left knee reconstructed three times and his right knee once, the last of those major surgeries in April 2013. His attempt at a comeback last season was thwarted in May when he required more surgery for a bone spur.
But his and Geelong's hopes of a return have been raised by some impressive pre-season fitness work. Menzel finished fourth in a time-trial last week as the Cats' senior list returned to full training.
Three of Menzel's four reconstructions have been traditional knee surgeries. An attempt to expedite a return the third time using the LARS technique with artificial ligaments failed, and Menzel said Geelong were unlikely to repeat the experience.
"From my experience, I don't think the club will go with LARS again," he said. "The last time I did it, it was virtually nothing, and the graft just gave way. I wasn't that lucky with it. The traditional one should hold up as long as the rehab is right and you get through the initial stages of playing."
Menzel, who has still played only 21 AFL games but had in 2011 established himself as an important part of the Cats' line-up, said mentally he had "gone through some really bad times", recalling how after the 2013 injury which left him requiring a fourth reconstruction, he also broke his hand when he banged a door in frustration.
"It's the worst feeling because it's not a 4-6 week injury, it's 40-plus weeks. That was the last time I did my ACL, and I knew I'd done it, and I thought: 'I'm not getting stretchered off this time', and then, and it probaby wasn't the smartest idea, I hit a door and managed to give myself an extra injury."
Menzel said his various attempts at a return had taught him a lot which he hoped to pass on to players with similar injuries.
"Every single rehab, you look back on what has worked and what hasn't worked, and that helps you in the next one," he said.
"Every rehab has been different. I've been to America and worked with specialists over there, so you pick up an amount with every one. I'm aiming to help other people like [teammate] Nathan Vardy, who's going through it now.
"You share what you've gone through and what's worked and what hasn't, and hopefully, we'll both make a successful comeback next year."
