Essendon key defender Michael Hurley has declared himself ready to return for Saturday week’s AFL elimination final against Sydney at the SCG.
Hurley took an ultra-cautious approach recovering from a strained left calf muscle, admitting he could have played in the final home-and-away game against Fremantle if required.
“It’s fine. I could’ve played last week, but, obviously, with the bye, it’s an extra two weeks to get some running in the legs,” he said.
“Probably the middle of next week, I’ll really ramp it up. But I’ve already done two or three solid hitouts.”
Barring a late setback with the calf injury that sidelined Hurley for the last two rounds, he will join the final training session at the Bombers’ Tullamarine headquarters on Friday week before the team fly to Sydney.
Hurley caught up with former Essendon teammates Michael Hibberd and Paddy Ryder at Wednesday night’s All-Australian awards and the trio reflected on their amazing career turnarounds after being part of the large Bombers group forced to sit out the 2016 season.
“It has been a bit of a whirlwind the last three years and it’s nice to be back playing footy again,” Hurley said.
“Michael is one of my close mates and we catch up regularly. And if I’m in Adelaide, I catch up with Paddy. There’s still a close bond with all the other guys as well.”
Midfielder Zach Merrett and high-leaping forward Joe Daniher were the other Bombers’ to earn 2017 All-Australian honours.
Daniher said the younger players had the incentive to reward their previously-banned teammates with a deep run into September.
“It was always going to be a difficult challenge for us and we’re really excited to have those guys back and it’s good we’ve been able to get to a final for them,” Daniher said.
“But we’re not content with that and, hopefully, we’re going to go a bit further.”