Adelaide star Rory Sloane is back in full training after emergency appendix surgery and will return for his club's preliminary final.
But the most courageous player in the AFL is still a little afraid to sneeze.
Sloane missed the Crows' 36-point qualifying final win over Greater Western Sydney after he complained of stomach soreness and was rushed to hospital to have his appendix removed.
That was nine days before the win over the Giants - a timeframe the Adelaide vice-captain tried and failed to overcome.
"I was trying to push it probably a little hard to make that first final but I fell a few days short in the end," Sloane told reporters on Tuesday.
"I'll start ramping it up from here on in.
"I did some pretty solid running in the last couple of days and some more solid training (on Tuesday), more football-like training, but I'll join with the main squad from here on in.
"I'll join in our main sessions which do have a bit of contact work, a bit of a game-like simulation I suppose, I'll join in all of that and it will be fine."
Sloane spoke to reporters at the AFL Players' Association awards ceremony in Melbourne, where he took out the most courageous player award.
He and Taylor Walker, who was crowned the AFLPA's best captain, left the Crows' Gold Coast training camp a day early to attend the awards night.
Asked what the trickiest part of his recovery has been, a broad smile came over Sloane's face.
"I've tried not to sneeze," he said.
"I get a bit of hayfever at this time of the year, so every time I get a bit of a tingle I try to block it out.
"But everything has been fine, seriously, I've had a really good build-up."
The Crows will face either Geelong or Sydney in a preliminary final at Adelaide Oval on Friday week.
Share
