The Western Bulldogs are in the fortunate position of having just three players in the rehab room as they start preparations for the 2021 AFL season. 

Toby McLean is four months into his recovery from the ACL injury he sustained late last season against Hawthorn. 

“Toby’s flying. He’s been super diligent and he’s progressing really nicely,” head of medical services, Chris Bell, said.  

“He’s ticked off some Alter G runs and he’s due to start running again outside on Monday, which is exciting for all of us.” 

New recruit Mitch Hannan is slowly finding his groove as he works his way back from a persistent groin injury. 

“Mitch has had a really injury interrupted last couple of seasons at Melbourne,” Bell said. 

“We’ll progress Mitch slowly over the next couple of months, but at this stage we’re optimistic he’s going to be available to play games in the early part of the year.” 

Young midfielder Riley Garcia had a knee setback prior to Christmas, which required arthroscopic surgery. 

“Unfortunately, Riley’s suffering some issues with a knee that was reconstructed prior to his arrival at the club,” Bell said. 

“At this stage, we’re going to gradually progress Riley over the next six-to-eight weeks to get a gauge of how his knee is handling our football program.”