After recovering from foot surgery in his right foot Jesse Hogan will ease into pre-season training, according to Dockers general manager of football Peter Bell.
Hogan had screws inserted into his navicular bone in a "more aggressive" surgery after re-injuring his foot during the Docker's round 14 clash against Melbourne at the MCG.
Bell said that the 24-year-old is ahead of schedule but won't be returning to full training until the end of the Christmas break.
"I wouldn't put an exact timeframe on it, but we wouldn't see him in full football before Christmas," Bell told radio station 6PR.
"He is up running on the AlterG (treadmill), which allows you to take some body weight off, so he's in front of schedule at the moment, but again, we're in no great rush to get him back.
"It's important we rehabilitate him conservatively and if that means we take our time, so be it."
Hogan has battled injury across his 83 game career and this foot issue is his latest setback.
The navicular bone, which is located in the core of the foot can mean months on the sideline due to the lack of blood flow to the area of the fracture.
However the news is more positive for Matt Taberner who is set for a big pre-season after only playing nine games in 2019 due to his own foot issues.
"[He] possibly could have played late in the year. He got really, really close but we decided, obviously, to take a more conservative approach," Bell said.
Hogan kicked 13 goals from 12 games in 2019.