Gold Coast defender Daniel Rioli has returned to full training after sustaining a knee injury back in November.
Rioli injured his MCL at the start of pre-season in November, with the 27-year-old forced to undergo surgery.
The Suns recruit is confident he will be fit for the Suns' practice match against the Swans on 28 February, before the Opening Round encounter against Essendon.
"I feel like I could play (match simulation) on Thursday, but I'll keep resting and will be ready to go for the Sydney game," said Rioli according to the club's website.
"I feel I'm probably 90% and the last 10% is confidence-based. Once I get some contact in I'll feel like I'm ready to go."
The former Tiger was "disappointed" his time at the Suns has been marred by the injury thus far, but has opted to focus on the "silver lining".
"To have an injury that has affected my pre-season, I've never had that before - I couldn't really showcase what I could bring to the team," Rioli added.
"All I wanted to do was impress all the boys and my new teammates so for that to happen it was a bit unfortunate.
"But I guess silver lining is I'd rather that happen early on in pre-season than towards the end, and an MCL is way better than an ACL.
"I know what I can bring to the side so once I'm fully fit and firing I'll be able to showcase that."
Rioli said he is optimistic about what the Gold Coast playing group can achieve through 2025 and beyond.
"From what I've seen on the training track, the hunger is there and I feel like we're ready to take that next step."
Gold Coast's pre-season schedule kicks off on 20 February against Brisbane and Collingwood at People's First Stadium.
