Billy, I am actually impressed by the positivity you have been expressing in your posts the last day or two, perhaps we can see if we can get Old Dee on the same page.

Personally can't see Mitch being in the VFL, thought maybe sub for a couple of games

Well Satriconhome I am glad you have picked up how positive I am at this point in the season.

Love it mate

He will blow up half way through the second quarter.

He and Trengove will struggle to impact 2013 at all.

And mods - change the name of this thread to 'parking advice and fitness expectations.'

Why?

Its still 4 weeks till the season starts and both players have been back and running for a month or more. Both players are also renowned as being very professional in their preparation so its not as if they will have stacked on the kilos whilst rehabbing their injuries and they would have been hitting the weights and cross training to maintain their general fitness levels before they started running . Misson has stated that both need 4 to 6 weeks in full training before they play. For mine they would have to come back through Casey for at least a couple of games to build match conditioning but that still has them back in the Dees jumper by approximately Round 5 if all goes to plan. Which gives them plenty of time to impact on the season.

Why?

Its still 4 weeks till the season starts and both players have been back and running for a month or more. Both players are also renowned as being very professional in their preparation so its not as if they will have stacked on the kilos whilst rehabbing their injuries and they would have been hitting the weights and cross training to maintain their general fitness levels before they started running . Misson has stated that both need 4 to 6 weeks in full training before they play. For mine they would have to come back through Casey for at least a couple of games to build match conditioning but that still has them back in the Dees jumper by approximately Round 5 if all goes to plan. Which gives them plenty of time to impact on the season.

Except that half the year is gone...

Look, some exceptional players don't need to be in peak physical nick to get a great deal out of themselves. Nat Fyfe last year missed games at the start and bounced back immediately.

I don't know if that is Clark - it may be easier that he relies on his marking and the ball gravitating toward him, but then again he is playing in the hardest posiiton on the ground - CHF.

And I certainly know that Trengove needs a PS to be effective. He struggled in 2012 after a stunted PS.

And that is just fitness - and that is match fitness so that is another month at least at AFL level. So I hope they are in form in Round 10 when fully fit and ready to go.

They will have half a season to impact.

Trenners did all the base work before Christmas and whist being unable to do load bearing work whilst in the moonboot he still would have been doing interval sessions in the pool and on the bike. He will not be coming from as far back as some think. A solid month of training in March and 2/3 weeks playing full games at VFL level and he will be ready.

Clark missed out on getting those base km's into the legs pre-christmas but he does not pay through the midfield. IHNI what kind of programme the club will have him on before he started running but would safely assume he will have done a fair amount of endurance work in the pool and on the bike, which would have transferred once he started running. I take a fair bit of heart hearing they have him doing sprints now. Would not mind betting the FD have him doing a mini pre-season, yes he is starting from a long way back but not playing through the midfield will help him. In a perfect world he would have been coming off a full pre-season but think the club will do wahts best and I think he will be back by Round 3 at the latest and would I suspect play 1 game at Casey where if all goes well e will come straight back in

Trenners did all the base work before Christmas and whist being unable to do load bearing work whilst in the moonboot he still would have been doing interval sessions in the pool and on the bike. He will not be coming from as far back as some think. A solid month of training in March and 2/3 weeks playing full games at VFL level and he will be ready.

Clark missed out on getting those base km's into the legs pre-christmas but he does not pay through the midfield. IHNI what kind of programme the club will have him on before he started running but would safely assume he will have done a fair amount of endurance work in the pool and on the bike, which would have transferred once he started running. I take a fair bit of heart hearing they have him doing sprints now. Would not mind betting the FD have him doing a mini pre-season, yes he is starting from a long way back but not playing through the midfield will help him. In a perfect world he would have been coming off a full pre-season but think the club will do wahts best and I think he will be back by Round 3 at the latest and would I suspect play 1 game at Casey where if all goes well e will come straight back in

I don't think either will be match fit inside the first two months of footy and god knows what form they will be in.

Impacting a season isn't getting into form for the last half the year - it is about setting oneself up for a huge year and you need a largely uninterrupted PS to do it.

I hope they come on quicker than I think they will - but I don't think they will and I don't think we should expect them to.

Why would we risk Clark in a rebuilding season with nothing realistically on the line when a serious setback could finish his career?

Madness.

Why would we risk Clark in a rebuilding season with nothing realistically on the line when a serious setback could finish his career?

Madness.

Agreed, we start playing him when the medical staff is 100% certain he's over his issues.