Midfielder Abbie Ballard is poised to return from a knee reconstruction this weekend.  

Ballard has not played since she ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Round Seven last season. 

The 22-year-old has been training with the main group for the past three weeks and is expected to return in the scrimmage match for non-selected AFLW players this weekend.

“Week Three has always been the plan for Abbie if everything went to plan in her rehab, which isn’t always the case with an ACL injury,” Head of Women’s Football Phil Harper said. 

“But she has done everything, ticked every box and she’s going to play this weekend which will be great and everyone’s pretty excited about it, particularly Abbie.

“She’s a really popular member of our group and they’ve seen how hard she’s worked so it will be a great boost for the team to see her come back after all the work she’s put in.”

Utility Najwa Allen has faced a minor setback in her recovery from a hamstring injury. 

‘We thought Naj might be a chance to come back this week, but she just felt her hamstring a bit in some of the more high-end stuff she was doing,” Harper said. 

“So, we’ve backed her off a little bit and it will only put her back a week or so, but she won’t be right for this week.

Caitlin Gould, Hannah Munyard, Teah Charlton and Tamara Henry all made successful returns from injury on the weekend.

INJURY LIST:

(As of Tuesday, September 10)

Abbie Ballard (knee) test

Najwa Allen (hamstring) 1 week