INCREDIBLE BULK

Oscar packs on the muscle as he primes himself for big time

GEELONG father-son draftee Oscar Brownless has added four kilograms of lean muscle to his frame in just three months as he readies himself for the rigours of his first season of senior football.

NORTH Geelong co-captain Michael Anderson is hopeful of returning to action as soon as Saturday after spending the summer recovering from groin injuries.

Anderson (pictured) was crippled by inflamed adductor tendons on both sides of his body towards the end of 2018 and spent the pre-season sidelined while he recovered.

“I had two or three months last season that I played with it and pushed through. I would get myself ready each week and thought in the post-season I’d get it looked at,” Anderson said. “It was a bit more serious than what we thought it would be. I had three months where I couldn’t run, I was on anti-inflams and it’s been a slow build up since to make sure I get the body right.

“We didn’t need to have surgery because of the break between the seasons. The doctor said we didn’t need to be too agressive with the treatment.

“It was always going to be a long process, they thought it was going to be late April (that I’d return). But the body has been pulling up good from training sessions.”

Anderson has been training with the squad for the past three weeks in a bid to build up match fitness ahead of his return. He said he was hopeful of seeing some action on Saturday, but a decision had not been made on whether that would be at under-20 or senior level.

“It’s just building up match- fitness now,” he said. “I’m feeling strong, but it’s just the aerobic fitness. You could put me in now and I’d probably last 20 minutes.

“Even in the practice games during training … the first half I am fine, but the second half the muscles are seizing up and you’re like ‘I’m not quite there yet’.”

North Geelong travels to CB Smith Reserve on Saturday to play Moreland Zebras.