West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has set his sights on returning as early as round 10 this AFL season as his recovery from a knee reconstruction continues to gain pace.
Naitanui missed about 19 months of action after rupturing the ACL in his left knee, but his recovery from a right knee reconstruction has gone a lot smoother.
The 28-year-old hopes to return before the club's bye in round 13, and says playing in round 10 isn't out of the question.
"Last time I was on crutches for six-to-eight weeks longer than this time," Naitanui said.
"I wasn't able to put any pressure or weight through my legs for 12-16 weeks. This time we did six weeks and I was back walking, and then jogging pretty quickly.
"At this stage we've looked at the middle of the year, so potentially before the bye.
"But it's a symptom-based thing I guess to see how it goes week by week. I'll have a better idea once I'm back into full training in a couple of weeks."
Naitanui comes out of contract at the end of this season.
His last deal was worth about $4 million over five years.
But Naitanui knows his next contract will be vastly less, and says he's happy to take a pay cut to help keep the premiership squad together.
"I'm not one to hold the club to ransom," Naitanui said.
"And I"m a realistic person knowing I've got two compromised knees now.
"This club has looked after me since day one, they're not going to do me wrong.
"I'm pretty comfortable - whenever they want to do it, we'll get it done and sign that off."
Naitanui has been doing a weekly session at the Ninja Academy in Perth in a bid to improve his jumping and landing.
The 161-game veteran is confident he won't lose his trademark leap and explosiveness despite undergoing two knee reconstructions.
Naitanui, who suffered his second knee rupture in round 17 last season, could only watch on from the sidelines as his teammates won the premiership.
The star ruckman is hungry to achieve flag success this year.
"A week after the grand final celebrations I was making sure the boys weren't drinking too much or partying too hard, because I want one (title)," Naitanui said.
"Everyone is pretty motivated. Everyone has that mindset of once they've won one, they want another one, which is good to see."
