DAN’S D-DAY
DANIEL Menzel’s bid to return next weekend ramps up today when Geelong launches into full-scale training at its Gold Coast camp.
The Cats had a light session at Broadbeach yesterday and will snap back to reality with gruelling game-based sessions today and Monday before returning to Geelong.
Menzel appears poised to return at some level next weekend, provided he proves his fitness after eight weeks out with a chronic groin issue.
An immediate AFL return against the Western Bulldogs on Friday night is not out of the question, but a call on whether he needs a VFL game will depend on how he performs on the training track.
Geelong assistant coach Matthew Knights said the forward was making strong progress.
“He’s had some really good training sessions in the past two weeks, it’s been quite promising the way Dan’s moved on the track and the way he’s trained,” Knights said from the Gold Coast last night.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him running around (today) in our first session up here — our first real football session — so we’ll be looking forward to seeing him train and see how that evolves over the next week or two, so it’s all good signs.
“Dan has had a couple of really promising, strong weeks on the track where he has been able to get a lot of football in, but it’s important he strings together some more sessions before he gets picked to play.
“It’s all heading in the right direction for Dan, so it’s just about getting those sessions in so he can put his name up for selection.”
Menzel has not played since Round 5 after adverse complications from an injection designed to settle a lingering groin complaint.
The goal-kicker’s comeback gathered pace on Tuesday when he completed a solid running session with a handful of teammates while the bulk of the players were away on their mid-season break.
He has banked about three weeks of training after enduring a month-long hiatus waiting for the issue to settle.
Knights said the four-day camp was the perfect way to “get started again” for the business end of the season.
“The players were in really good spirits today and looked fresh and ready to go, so it was great to see the enthusiasm and spirit out there today,” he said.
“We’ll have a full football session (today) and another full football session on Monday. Two really significant ses- sions in the lead up to our next game and it’s important we get these sessions right.
“We’ll be attacking these sessions hard as a group. We’ve had this week off, we had a light session today (yesterday) to get everything moving again, so it’s really important we have some quality training sessions.”
Cam Guthrie arrived yesterday after two comeback games in the VFL and is targeting an AFL return against the Bulldogs.
“He’ll certainly be putting his hand up for selection if he puts in a couple of good sessions, I’ve got no doubt,” Knights said. “He’s really looking good as well.”