Young midfielder Zac Taylor has resumed running on grass as he nears a return from foot surgery.

The 20-year-old suffered the injury in Round Four of the SANFL season and has had a lengthy stint in rehabilitation since then.

“Zac had a milestone day today, he ran out on grass for the first time which was great,” High Performance Manager Darren Burgess said.

“He’s been doing plenty of athletic training on grass and a lot of drilling, but today he went for a run and got through OK so hopefully he pulls up well tomorrow and we will progress him from there.

“Physically he’s in great shape, we’ve used this time to really build up his strength and improve his physical conditioning so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do when he gets back out into training and games.

“The advantage of being where we are on the SANFL ladder is hopefully we’re going to play some finals and go deep into it and we’re hoping Zac will be back for that period.”

Defender Andrew McPherson is also tracking well in his return from a quad injury.

“Andrew is running really well and hitting all his speed targets so we’re hoping that he’ll be involved in some part of training within the next fortnight or so, but he’s really progressing well,” Burgess said.

Midfielder Sam Berry was a late withdrawal from the AFL emergency list on the weekend after falling ill but has recovered and resumed training.

“Sam had a nasty flu on the weekend, he was Covid clear but had some serious symptoms, he was back resuming training today so he will be fine for this week,” Burgess said.

Injury list (as of Tuesday, July 18): 

Andrew McPherson (quad) 2 weeks

Zac Taylor (foot) 2-4 weeks

Tom Doedee (knee) season