After two injury-ravaged years, star midfielder David Armitage is set to return to full training after the Christmas break as he eyes a return to the game in 2018.
Despite playing every game in 2016, the 29-year-old was plagued by a debilitating back injury, before managing only two appearances this year due to a persistent groin issue that required two bouts of surgery.
While he’s not quite out of the woods yet, Armitage has banked a chunk of running over the last month and a half and is nearly ready to re-join the main group.
“I am going really well. I don’t want to say I am flying because it’s a scary injury. I thought I was over it midway through the year and it snuck back up on me,’’ he told the Herald Sun.
“But I have had a good five or six weeks of running and am slowly building up. I am starting to do agility and repeat speed stuff so I am not too far off getting back
“I feel like a new recruit, a year off does that to you.”
Armitage, who finished second behind Jack Steven in the 2015 Trevor Barker Award, is desperate to roll his sleeves up and get back to work.
“I have got this renewed energy,’’ he said.
“You can take footy for granted and I missed a year so I am pretty keen to get stuck into it.”
With St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson extending his contract at the start of October, Armitage said the club has the right man to lead the club back towards September, someone who strikes the balance between being supportive and challenging at the right time.
“I have the utmost respect for Richo. He is good for every bloke on the list, he doesn’t exclude anyone,” he said.
“He is brutally honest and hugs you when you need a hug and challenges you when you need to be challenged.
“He has got a really good balance. He has got plenty of
