Stewart Crameri is over the hip injury that threatened his AFL career and will be ready to have an immediate impact for Geelong next year.
After much deliberation, the Cats threw the 29-year-old a lifeline with their first pick at Monday's rookie draft.
Crameri kicked 166 goals in 99 games in stints with Essendon and the Western Bulldogs but was cut by the Dogs after a difficult two-year period.
He served a season-long doping ban in 2016, stemming from his time with the Bombers, and then had his 2017 campaign limited to two AFL games by a chronic hip injury that required surgery.
"The injuries I had at the start of the year have healed," Crameri told the Geelong Advertiser.
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"I've just got some strength work to kick off.
"I'll be in rehab for a couple of weeks, just to see where I'm at, then I'll be fine after that and into full training, which will be good.
"I can't wait to get back into it."
Crameri has been training on his own since his four-year stint at Whitten Oval came to an end.
He joined Geelong on a standard one-year rookie deal but is confident that will prove the starting point for a longer stay at the Cattery.
"I started my career a bit later ... as a professional player (he debuted as a 22-year-old in 2010), so I think I've still got a few years to go yet," he said.
"I think a lot of players are playing longer now, with the medical teams around clubs now they're prolonging a lot of careers.
"So I'll be expecting to not just play this year but the year after and go from there, but I hope to keep playing."
Under revised AFL rookie rules he will be available to play in round one when the Cats play Melbourne at the MCG.
