The GIANTS will enter the 2027 pre-season with plenty of positive signs on the injury front, with several players making encouraging progress in their respective rehabilitation programs.

The GIANTS' first-to-four-year players will return to the club on Monday to officially begin pre-season training, before the remainder of the squad joins them two weeks later as preparations ramp up for the 2027 AFL season.

GIANTS Head of Medical Services, Andrew Ryan, provided an update on several players, including Finn Callaghan, Phoenix Gothard and Tom Green, who are all tracking towards a return to full training in January.

Callaghan underwent ankle surgery during the latter stages of the season, while Gothard also had surgery to address a shoulder injury, with both making positive progress in their rehabilitation.

"They're doing running and conditioning training and light skills at the moment," Ryan said.

"Phoenix won't be doing any contact work with his shoulder until the new year, but he'll be running and doing football drills in the block before Christmas. 

"It's a similar situation with Finn. They've just got a few things to tick off before Christmas, but they're both tracking really well.”

Meanwhile, Green continues to make encouraging progress in the star midfielder’s recovery from his ACL injury suffered in February. 

"He's tracking towards a return to team training," Ryan said.

"He might be able to get to full training before Christmas, but realistically he'll be fully into it in January. That's the goal for him."He'll continue with his running, conditioning and light skills in the meantime, but we won't have him doing full-contact training or live collisions just yet.”

Josh Kelly will continue to take a measured approach to his rehabilitation following his hip surgery, with a significant focus on building up strength.

"He's continued to increase his training capacity, but a big focus at the moment is his strength work in the gym," Ryan said.

"The hip prosthesis has integrated well and that’s all good. It's the chassis around it that's still adapting. For him the focus is on getting stronger in the gym before we push him any further with the running element.”

Before his upcoming return to the club, Kelly will spend an intensive week working with a renowned rehabilitation specialist in Ireland as he continues his recovery.

Meanwhile Brent Daniels and Jack Buckley are progressing well following the soft tissue injuries they sustained towards the end of the season.

Both are expected to hit the ground running when pre-season training commences. 

"They're both progressing accordingly and should be part of full team pre-season training leading into Christmas," Ryan said.

"They might have some modified loading along the way, just to manage their bodies through what is a long pre-season, but they've done all the hard work from a rehabilitation point of view to get themselves into that position.”

Young forward Nathan Wardius is also closing in on a return to full training following his ACL injury, having made encouraging progress in recent weeks.

"He's progressing well and should be training with the team in the lead-up to Christmas," Ryan said.

"He'll be training fully in January, but the next few weeks should be enough to get him back into full team training before Christmas.”

Exciting young ruck prospect Logan Smith will continue to build towards a return to full training after a lengthy rehabilitation period, with the youngster managing ongoing patella tendinopathy.

"He's been a long, slow burn, but he's progressing well," Ryan said.

"He'll still be modified through to Christmas, but he's on track to be training well in the new year.”

Meanwhile, excitement machine Darcy Jones is fit and firing and will participate in full team training from day one of pre-season.

Jones spent the entire 2026 season recovering from an ACL injury and was ready to return to the field late in the season before the club opted for a cautious approach with the youngster, keeping him sidelined to focus on a return in 2027. 

"He was in full training when we finished the season," Ryan said."We just made the decision not to play him in those last games, but he's back and ready to go and won’t be held back.”