Forward Kieran Harper is moving as well as he has for the past 18 months, according to forwards coach Shane Watson.

The 22-year-old has taken part in the Roos’ last four game sense training sessions – increasing his workload in each – and continues to build towards resuming full training duties.

Watson said Harper is showing “little glimpses” of his best form and is regaining confidence in his body.

“We just went over the vision from Friday and I hadn’t seen that from ‘Harps’ for 18 months,” Watson told NMFC.com.au.

“There was some change of pace and change of direction (similar to) when he played in his first year.

“(In) the vision we just watched, there was some real positive return to what we hope he could do and what he was doing when he was making a positive impact a few years ago.”

Watson is optimistic Harper will continue to build momentum in the lead-up to the home and away season, especially as his fitness base builds.

“He’s not going to be able to produce it for all of game sense because where his conditioning is at, it’ll take a little while,” he said.

“If we can keep seeing those little five or 10-minute periods where he’s leading for marks, he’s being involved and he just seems to be getting a little bit of his confidence back.”

Harper underwent two bouts of ankle surgery in the 2014 pre-season and had surgery to tidy up his ankles in the recent off-season.

“He just seems more confident running around whereas in the past he’s been really straight-line and worried about turning,” Watson said.

But there’s still plenty of work left to do.

“You don’t want to get too excited too early but it was pleasing more for him and where his head’s at that he can do the things he was doing when he was playing at his best,” Watson said.

After a promising debut season in 2011, Harper featured in every game in the following year, showcasing his bursts of speed, ability to break away from opponents, shrug off tackles and score goals.

However, the small forward’s battle with ankle injuries and fluctuating form has netted him just three games in the last two seasons.

As a result, Watson said he is always looking to provide the number 23 with encouragement when reviewing game sense training footage.

“We were going through the vision and I said, ‘I’m just going to pull out clips of you doing stuff really well’, more for that he’s doing it well and just to give him some confidence,” he said.

Despite playing 17 games for VFL affiliate Werribee last year, Harper’s injury concerns meant he couldn’t leave a lasting impact and even featured across half-back in an effort to regain his touch.

“Going to watch him play for Werribee last year, he just looked like a player who was a shell of himself,” Watson said.

“It just didn’t seem like he was playing with much confidence, he didn’t know where he was at and he struggled to get into footy.”

Watson said he has encouraged Harper to “back himself in” this year as he prepares for his fifth season at Arden Street.

“He’s just got to work hard on what he’s good at,” he said.

“I just think for a guy who’s been frustrated with his footy over two years, we'll stay positive on everything and aim to turn a corner.”