Nic Nat on return path

HOPE is building at spluttering West Coast with injured ruckman Nic Naitanui revealing his knee reconstruction rehab is going “really well”.

Naitanui had knee surgery after Round 22 in 2016 and it’s been a long road back for the high-flying 27-year-old but he’s 75 per cent through his recovery and seems confident he can play a part in 2017.

“I’ve been progressing pretty steadily,” he told Channel 7.

“I guess if I came to a point where nothing was progressing or getting better I’d probably think maybe I should rest up and concentrate on next year, but it’s going along really well.

“Everyone I walk past asks me the question. I still firmly believe I want to play at some stage this year.

“We’ll sit down and go over some scans. We’ll see how the knee and stuff around that is going.

“That will determine where I go from there.”