Port Adelaide youngster Mitch Georgiades has circled his side's Round 1 meeting with West Coast as his ideal return date after a year in recovery from an ACL injury.
Georgiades' 2023 season came to an end in April after he suffered a serious knee injury playing in the SANFL, curtailing the 22-year-old's campaign and ending his hopes of a breakout year.
The Western Australian started the season playing under Ken Hinkley for the opening fortnight of the Power's premiership push before being demoted to the state league level to find some form, with Georgiades having booted 2.5 across his two games to start the season in the AFL.
In his third SANFL game - a meeting with Sturt - Georgiades' campaign came to a cruel close after landing awkwardly and hurting his knee, forcing the emerging forward into a year-long rehabilitation process.
Having since returned to training and joining his teammates for pre-season at Alberton and at their training camp in Queensland, Georgiades is hoping for an early season return in 2024.
Speaking toย AFL.com.au,ย the young attacker said he has his sights set on a Round 1 comeback, however still needs to get through the remainder of Port Adelaide's pre-season program and rebuild his confidence before pulling the boots back on.
"Personally I want to be back for Round 1. That's been my goal since the start of this year," he said.
"I did it Round 4 or 5 in the AFL and it's a 12-month injury so if you're around that period then you're around then.
"I just have to tick off the boxes before then and hopefully post-Christmas I'll get into some training and then build up from there.
"It takes two months for your training to get your confidence up alone so hopefully I'll be back around that period."
Georgiades revealed he had worried whether he would be able to play at the top level again, having struggled to walk in the wake of his setback.
After spending time back home in Western Australia earlier in the year and slowly adding to his workload over the summer, Georgiades' faith in the future has grown.
"I was thinking 'Jeez am I actually going to get going here? Am I going to play footy again?' That was pretty tough," Georgiades said on the early stages of his recovery.
"I couldn't walk very well for a while and was hobbling around the club on crutches for a while.
"I went back to Perth and then went to Melbourne for another surgery and got everything sorted out.
"It's been good the past couple of months to mentally and physically feel like I'm progressing and each day is really rewarding."
The young Port Adelaide star re-signed with the club on a fresh four-year deal in September, with Georgiades and the Power showing faith in each other after a year on the sidelines for the key forward.
The 49-gamer will now look to break into a forward pack that consists of veteran Charlie Dixon, utility Jeremy Finlayson, sharpshooter Todd Marshall and fellow young tall Ollie Lord -ย a crop that left Georgiades on the outer earlier this year.
The Power will have pre-season matches against Adelaide and Fremantle to get a closer look at their front third mix prior to their season opener against the Eagles in March, where Georgiades could make his long-awaited return.
