Hawthorn star Chad Wingard has reported back for pre-season training early as he looks to put a frustrating 2022 campaign behind him.
The two-time All-Australian managed 10 appearances this year and has been sidelined since Round 13 due to a range of hamstring, calf and ankle injuries, following an interrupted summer.
Wingard strained his hamstring at training at the end of June and was eventually ruled out for the remainder of the season after his recovery didn't progress quickly.
The 29-year-old was the oldest and most experienced player at the club on Monday, joining Hawthorn's first-to-fourth-year players for day one of pre-season.
Wingard is expected to complete part of the first block of the pre-season ahead of the return of the rest of the group on December 5, hoping for a change of fortune with his body after a stop-start year.
Hey @chadwingard20 👋 https://t.co/o4HHvgh456 pic.twitter.com/Vfmn7xdZem
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) November 21, 2022
Luke Breust (260 games) is now the only player at Hawthorn with more experience than Wingard (204 games).
Under the direction of new high performance manager Peter Burge, Hawthorn's younger players were welcomed back to training with wet, windy and freezing conditions.
Off-season acquisitions Cooper Stephens and Lloyd Meek were both on the track after joining Hawthorn during last month's Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period.
Fergus Greene also joined the group for the first time in an official capacity after being signed by the club as a delisted free agent earlier this month, having kicked 53 goals in the VFL this season.
Unlike Stephens and Meek, the 24-year-old is very familiar with the personnel and set-up at Waverley Park after spending the past two seasons at Box Hill – Sam Mitchell coached him in 2021 – and parts of both pre-seasons with Hawthorn.
Hawthorn will head to next week's NAB AFL Draft with Pick 6, as well as 24, 41, 48, 50, 52 and 63 at this stage.