AFL superstar Nic Naitanui will travel to the US as he ramps up his bid to return from a knee reconstruction.
The 27-year-old West Coast ruckman Naitanui ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last August.
Naitanui hasn't given up hope of playing this season.
He will soon head to the US for some high-intensity training under the guidance of world-renowned sports injury expert Bill Knowles.
Naitanui's teammate Eric Mackenzie, Adelaide captain Taylor Walker plus young guns Daniel Menzel, Jon Patton and Christian Petracca are among the AFL players to have visited Knowles' Philadelphia clinic in recent years.
"I've progressed a fair bit over the last month," Naitanui told AAP at the launch of Nike's 'No Turning Back' campaign in Sydney.
"I'll do a bit of training in the US over the next couple of weeks and then fingers crossed, hopefully I'll come back and play towards the back end of the year.
"It'll just be a quick trip. The longer I postpone it, the later in the season it gets. I want to get it done now so I can give myself a good crack at coming back this year."
Naitanui wouldn't be drawn on a potential comeback game he was targeting.
"That would be ideal (to play some part in the regular season before finals start). I'm still unaware of what that exact date is," he said.
Naitanui has returned to training with the Eagles' main group, as evidenced by how hoarse he was at Tuesday's promotional event.
"One of the young boys has punched me in the throat so excuse my voice today," he said.
"It's not full contact (training) but I've started a little bit over the past two weeks, slowly getting back into the main group.
"That will grow more intense over the next couple of weeks."
The Eagles sit seventh on the ladder following their last-start win over Geelong.
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