Next week's practice game looms as a key part of Harrison Jones' hopes of playing in round one for Essendon after an interrupted pre-season, with the club confident fellow important forward Jake Stringer will be ready for the start of the home and away season as he battles his groin injury.
Jones had an exciting 2021 season, kicking 20 goals from 16 games as a marking forward before his campaign ended with a foot stress fracture. That led to a modified program once Essendon returned to training over summer before an ankle injury further limited his training.
The 20-year-old didn't play in Essendon's intraclub clash on Wednesday but is eyeing some time against the Western Bulldogs in a practice game at the NEC Hangar on Wednesday, with the Bombers optimistic the straight-kicking forward will be available to face Geelong in round one on March 19.
"We're hoping so," coach Ben Rutten told AFL.com.au. "That's going to be the balance for him. We're hoping to get a bit of a look at him next Wednesday in our first game. For him, considering the injury he's had and a little bit of a limited pre-season, we just have to balance that up between him being available but also how fit and prepared to play he is.
"We're going to build him up over the next few weeks but with 'Jonesy', barring any interruptions, we're pretty confident he'll be available at the start of the season."
Jones looms as a critical player in Essendon's attack which will again include Peter Wright, while Aaron Francis has trained mainly as a forward over summer.
Stringer will also be vital as he looks to back up his best season for the Bombers, which saw him narrowly miss Therabody AFL All-Australian selection after kicking 41 goals from 19 games in a blistering campaign. The Western Bulldogs premiership player has spoken about his greater fitness this pre-season but was ruled out of featuring in any of the Bombers' pre-season games after a groin injury last week.
Rutten said he expected Stringer to be fit to face the Cats.
"We're pretty confident that Jake will be ready then. He's done a fair bit of work for us. He did a fair bit of training for us pre-Christmas and post-Christmas as well. He hasn't missed a beat up until now," Rutten said.
"It's one of those ones at this time of the year with guys who have done a fair bit of work we're erring on the side of being a little bit more conservative to make sure that we're not having lingering injuries that are carrying throughout the season. He's such an important player for us as we know and we're really confident we'll see him for the start of the season."
Essendon's other injuries to this stage are relatively minor heading into the season, with Kyle Langford (shoulder), Dylan Shiel (quad) and Jake Kelly (side) all expected to be ready to face St Kilda in the AAMI Community Series in early March, if not earlier.
Michael Hurley has picked up in his progression for a return from his hip injury last year while the club is hoping prized top-10 pick Zach Reid starts to hit the track more in coming weeks after battling a foot injury.
"There's been a few things that have been little speed humps along the way which has probably compromised his ability to build his body up," Rutten said.
"He hasn't had a full season in the AFL, he's over 200cm centimetres, so with that sort of body this last 12 months has been really important to build some strength and resilience into his body because we're really confident 'Reidy's' going to be a really strong player for us but we need to make sure we're setting him up to be successful from a physical point of view but also from a footy point of view as well. We're going to see him out on the track a bit more in the next few weeks."
The Bombers will face the Bulldogs in a practice match from 3pm at the NEC Hangar on Wednesday, with the match shown live on Kayo.
