ESSENDON tagger Heath Hocking is still recovering from groin surgery but has his sights set on playing in the Bombers' round one clash with Sydney.
Hocking was hampered by groin issues last season and underwent operations on both groins before Christmas after experiencing soreness during training.
The 27-year-old spent 12 nights in an altitude room in December in a left-field plan to keep the midfielder's fitness up.
He won't resume running for several weeks but remains confident he can reach the required fitness level to be available for the season-opener against the Swans at ANZ Stadium on April 4.
"With it still being 11 weeks to round one ideally it would still be nice to be ready for that match against the Swans," Hocking told the club's website.
"After I start running in four weeks' time it will be nice to know and to get a feel for where I am at.
"I am a realist and I will not be returning too early. I will be happy to wait a few more weeks but that is a long way down the track.
"Mentally I have done everything I have been able to do so now it is just about how my body reacts and doing the best recovery that I can do. I feel confident that I should be right."
Despite his lack of conditioning, Hocking believes he can still be a strong contributor early in the season.
"I think an accumulative affect of pre-seasons can take its toll so knowing how we want to play I think I can catch up to that pretty quickly," he said.
"From the fitness point of view I will be able to catch up on that a lot quicker than a first or second-year player would. I am happy to work a bit harder to get fitter quicker as the season draws closer."
