ST KILDA youngsters Jack Billings and Daniel Markworth are on the cusp of returning to full training.

The injured pair suffered slight setbacks in Boulder, Colorado, but have worked tirelessly over the Christmas break to regain much of their fitness base.

Markworth missed all of 2013 with knee reconstruction after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the previous year’s camp to Boulder.

[ RELATED: Full injury list ]

“There was definitely a cautious approach taken with Markworth’s knee,” St Kilda High Performance Manager Adam Basil told SAINTS.com.au.

“Obviously he had the same issue last year in Colorado… He had a bit of a knee scope last month but he’s progressed really well and is back doing some one-on-one conditioning. He’s in rehab with the view that by the end of next week or maybe in a couple of weeks he will be back into full training – but obviously on modified loads.”

Meanwhile Billings, the number three pick in the 2013 AFL Draft, is recovering from a quad injury sustained in December and is gradually building up his body in order to cope with the rigors of league football.

“Jack had a really good off-season rehab schedule which we were really happy with. So he’s progressed now, he’s back kicking and into some really good training loads with the view that he will be up to full training by sometime next week,” Basil said.

Six injured players stayed in Melbourne while the rest of the playing list travelled to Colorado late last year.
19-year-old ruckman Lewis Pierce was one of them and is on the mend, as are defenders Nathan Wright and James Gwilt.
“Lewis is back running which is a big plus for us. He’s had some back issues which we were concerned about but he’s back running as we speak,” Basil said.

“Nathan Wright had some shin issues. We decided not to take him to Colorado with a view to put him on an off-legs program. He’s actually just started back into some modified drills this week and he will do the same throughout the course of the next couple of weeks. We expect that he will be ready to go by round one.”

“Gwilty is the same. We’re just managing his loads with various skills and drills.”

Much of the player management science relates to how they recover from training, and to this end Rhys Stanley has been excellent while recuperating from a hip injury.

“Rhys has progressed really well and he’s back doing some high level drills and body contact work,” Basil said.

The agile utility has played 39 games for St Kilda since debuting in 2010, spending time at either end of the ground as well as spells in the ruck.

“As of yesterday’s training session he’s pulled up really well – so we are looking to increase his load with some more drills in the next week or so… we just need to make sure we don’t overload him straight away.”

Defensive pair Dylan Roberton and Tom Simpkin are at different stages in their rehab, with Simpkin further advanced than Roberton.

“Roberton at this stage is doing one-on-one conditioning and in rehab. Again he is someone we are going to be a bit cautious with,” Basil said.

“Every so often we will look at de-loading Tom Simpkin for specific issues but we couldn’t be happier with where he is at the moment.”

While Jack Newnes, Tom Lee and Arryn Siposs all travelled to Boulder in November, their contact training was kept to a minimum. Each youngster is recovering from late-season shoulder surgery.

Newnes and Siposs are almost back to full training, while Lee is expected to return in the next 2-3 weeks.

“So Jack Newnes is pretty much back involved in full training and he’s shown no signs of any shoulder issues. Siposs is the same – he’s progressed really well,” Basil said.

“We are looking at putting Tom Lee back into full training on February 1. He’s actually involved in skills but we are just taking him out of contact drills at the moment… we don’t want him to have a setback.”

Despite the large number of players on modified programs at the moment, Basil is confident the vast majority will be available for selection in round one but admits many require day by day attention.

“We have a really good list that is out there at the moment and it’s just about making sure we manage them to get them up for training each day,” he said.

You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32