Western Bulldogs AFL veteran Dale Morris is on the verge of completing a stunning recovery from a serious knee injury, the defender just a fortnight away from returning to the field.
The 36-year-old ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in March, but chose not to have a knee reconstruction that would have sidelined him for up to 12 months.
In a desperate bid to add to his 252 AFL games, Morris opted to rest the knee for several weeks then slowly built up his training loads.
The approach looks set to pay dividends with a return, most likely in the VFL, approaching.
"He's not far away," coach Luke Beveridge said on Friday.
"We anticipated he'd almost be right this week and be back in almost full training ... we're hoping in a couple of weeks he'll be right to play.
"He's pretty good but there's a few DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and fatigue things going on.
"(But) we're hoping, in a couple of weeks, he'll be right to play ... he's looking strong."
Morris, who famously played in the 2016 grand final win with a back fracture, suffered a partially torn ACL in the other knee in the lead-up to the 2018 season and returned in round 11.
But the news of Morris' impending return has been tempered by Lin Jong's decision to step away from the game to concentrate on his mental health.
Just weeks after Tom Boyd's retirement for similar reasons, the injury-plagued midfielder has taken indefinite leave.
"Jongy's had a tough time over the last few years with all of the physical injuries that he's had to confront - he's been in rehab for such a long time," Beveridge said.
"The unfortunate thing is that he's in our best 22, he'd had a great pre-season and then he went down with that hamstring so he's struggling a bit.
"All we can do is support him and help him.
"The great thing is he's going to be here training and keeping himself physically fit.
"We'll all support him and we're hopeful he's still got a bright future."
