Greater Western Sydney ruckman Braydon Preuss is "ready and raring to go" as he looks to make his Giants debut in 2022.
After joining the Harbour City side ahead of last year, the 26-year-old endured a luckless run of injuries that kept him sidelined for the entire season.
A shoulder injury in February placed Preuss out of action for an extended period before suffering a pectoral injury that curtailed his 2021 campaign.
Seen as their likely first-string ruckman in his maiden year with the Giants, Preuss' absence forced senior coach Leon Cameron to experiment with his ruck stocks, handing Matthew Flynn and Kieren Briggs their AFL debuts.
Veteran Shane Mumford was also a prominent feature in the centre for the Giants, although the cult figure faced battles with fatigue.
Now turning their attention to a new season, the Giants have high hopes in Preuss' prospects for 2022, with the former Demons and Kangaroos tall tipped to play a key role for Cameron as they eye another finals finish.
โHe is going well," Giants football boss Jason McCartney toldย SEN.ย
โHe set himself up really well with a great pre-season last year, but unfortunately at the last hurdle he injured his shoulder and then he worked his way back and then had some complications.
โHe had some minor surgery at the end of the year and heโs ready and raring to go.
โItโs a great opportunity because Shane Mumford played such an enormous role for us since returning out of retirement three years ago, the opportunity is there for not only Braydon, but we got some AFL exposure to Kieren Briggs and Matt Flynn last year."
Between Preuss, Flynn and Briggs, the Giants are yet to see who currently sits atop of their pecking order as they continue to plan their rotation structure.
โThose three boys are really fighting for that opportunity to take that position and itโs yet to be decided," McCartney added.
โItโll be horses for courses whether it will be just one ruckman or at times I could probably see us going with two.โ
Preuss had shown plenty of promise across his 18 games between stints at North Melbourne and Melbourne, however the 206cm big man was constantly second-fiddle to All-Australian calibre rucks in Todd Goldstein and Max Gawn.
Now with a clean bill of health and greater opportunity on the horizon, Preuss is shaping up for a breakout campaign in 2022.