Western Bulldogs midfielder Mitch Wallis has taken a big step in his long road to recovery from a broken leg, running for the first time on an anti-gravity treadmill.
Wallis fractured his tibia and fibula in the last quarter of his side's round 18 loss to St Kilda last season. He watched from the sidelines as the Bulldogs made a miraculous run to their drought-breaking premiership.
Although Wallis is uncertain about his timetable for return, the midfielder said he is confident he will play a role in the Bulldogs' flag defence. "I had more surgery before Christmas, which was ahead of schedule which is great. I've got no rods or pins in my legs at the moment and I'm just waiting for the bone to heal so I can hit the track running," Walliis said on Tuesday.
"I'm definitely going to have an impact this year, whether it's early, in the middle or late we'll wait and see. I'm progressing quite well. I'm excited to progress, but when I start running outside and kicking and getting contact that's probably the biggest hurdles I'll face, just to get that confidence back and make sure I can attack it 100 per cent vigour and not hold back."
After experiencing the emotional "highs and lows" of missing the grand final win over Sydney, Wallis is driven to help his team chase back-to-back flags.
"There's enough premiership photos and memorabilia around the joint that I get reminded about it every day, so it's making me push that much harder," he said.
"There's a few of us who did miss out, so there's plenty of people coming back into the side and making us a better club and looking forward."
Wallis will be one of a host of Dogs without a premiership who expect to play senior football this season. Bob Murphy, Lin Jong, Jack Redpath, Marcus Adams and Stewart Crameri all missed the grand final and will be hungry for a premiership.
Wallis was speaking at a joint training session involving both the Bulldogs' men's and women's teams.
Bulldogs AFLW player Hannah Scott said she was rapt to be at the club ahead of the inaugural women's league season, which begins early next month. "They're very much about 'three teams, one club'. I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be," Scott said.
