It’s been more than seven months since Sam Durdin last played, but the good news is a return to football is not far away.

The 2014 draftee injured his shoulder in the VFL in June and underwent surgery to repair torn cartilage. In late July, a foot complaint led the club’s medical staff to send him in for another operation.

But after a long, frustrating recovery process, Durdin is finally on the up.

“It’s been about six months since surgery, but I’m back to nearly full weights and back out on the training track doing the game-sense and having a kick around with the boys,” he told NMFC.com.au.

“I’ve ticked off most sessions this year, there’s just a couple of tackling sessions I’m easing into. I’m nearly there.”

The 19-year-old admits it was far from the ideal start to his AFL career. He managed just eight matches with North Ballarat last year, before succumbing to injury.

“It was quite frustrating. Being a first year last year, you want to make a good impression and do everything right, but that wasn’t the case for myself,” Durdin said.

“It’s been a while now and a long recovery, so it’s good to be back out at training and putting my best foot forward.”

Durdin’s versatility makes him an intriguing commodity. He played in the ruck at under 18 level and was used mainly as a key-defender after a stint in attack early in 2015.

“This pre-season, predominantly I’ve been up forward again. I think in the long run you might see me play up forward.

“During the season I’ll probably go down back again. It’s probably my best opportunity of breaking into the team and there might be more chances there, we’ll wait and see.”

But Durdin is all too aware he still has a long way to go, both to get on the field and then push for a senior debut.

“Footy’s a quite physical game and once again I need to build on my physical strength and size to be able to take it up against the bigger bodies in the AFL system.

“I’ve been working pretty hard on that and I’ve got a pretty intense weights program at the moment.

“Jona Segal, the nutritionist, is always on my tail about eating a fair bit. I’ve been putting on a few kilos and that’s probably the main part I need to work on.”

Despite his status as a second-year player, the youngster is more than happy to share some advice with the club’s newest recruits.

“It’s a bit of a weird feeling to be honest. You feel a lot older, but not as old as Boomer or Drew,” Durdin joked.

“It’s good being fresh from a first year to try and help them and give them a few tips and try to help them earn the respect from everyone else.”