The dark clouds that hovered over Melbourne's AFL season continue to clear with news that star defender Jake Lever is nearing an AFL return from a knee reconstruction.
A day after the Demons scored a much-needed five-point win over Hawthorn, Lever revealed he has pencilled in the round-11 clash with Adelaide in Darwin for his senior return.
The 23-year-old ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in round 11 last season and has undergone a painstaking rehabilitation, which included a stint with a specialist in Philadelphia.
Lever is targeting a return to VFL football in a fortnight before resuming at AFL level against the side he departed after playing in the 2017 grand final.
"It's at a pretty exciting stage ... I'm two weeks away from playing some limited game time in the VFL," he told Channel Seven's Game Day.
"It is always the final piece in the puzzle, being able to play again.
"Hopefully (I'll be back) for maybe the Adelaide game, which would be fantastic, or the Queen's Birthday (against Collingwood), so two pretty big games I could come in for."
A return against the Crows in the Northern Territory heat appears optimistic but the nine-day break between that game and the clash with the Pies makes it a more-likely goal as he looks to resume his 67-game career.
Lever has been buoyed by his five-day workout with world-renowned knee specialist Bill Knowles in the US.
"I did some very unique exercises, stuff that I hadn't done ever to be honest, like hula-hooping and change of direction stuff that just gave me a lot of confidence to be able to come back," he said.
"There were just little things that I was able to pick up throughout the trip and bring back to use in most main training days."
A popular premiership tip before the season, Melbourne were staring into the abyss at 1-5 before they clawed their way to a desperately-needed win over the Hawks at the MCG.
The Demons have been hard hit by injury but should regain co-captain Jack Viney from a shoulder injury in one to two weeks, with prized off-season recruit Steven May about three weeks away from returning from a groin injury.
