SIMON Black is on the road to recovery but still expects to miss the first few weeks of the Brisbane Lions' season.
The 2002 Brownlow medallist had knee surgery in December and was hopeful of being back for round one, but is resigned to returning at a later date.
At Lions' training on Friday morning, Black jogged laps while the rest of his teammates worked hard on set-ups and full ground match simulation.
It was the veteran midfielder’s first session with the main group for a number of weeks.
Speaking at Thursday's 10th anniversary of the club's hat-trick of premierships, Black said he expected to miss the first few rounds.
"From now you'd think it would take another three or four weeks to get into (match) shape," Black said.
He had ice on the left knee following Friday's session, but said he pulled up well.
In an unusual move, training was conducted with no coaches at Coorparoo in the south of Brisbane.
The Lions' coaching staff was at an off-site conference and let the players take responsibility for the session.
After some match simulation, they ran four repeat 200m efforts at near top speed.
Third-year small forward Josh Green said it was the first time he had ever completed a session without coaches.
"It was interesting. We started a bit slow but got used to it," Green said.
"I reckon it will help us in the long run with leadership … especially in games.
"It's up to individuals to keep talking and helping each other out. If everyone's doing it, it's going to be a loud session, which we want. It's important everyone does their bit."
Green was one of the standouts in last week's NAB Cup final win over Carlton, kicking three goals, and said the Lions had quickly switched their focus to round one against the Western Bulldogs.
"Vossy said after the game 'don't get ahead of yourselves, go away and have a good time and relax'.
"You could see today the training intensity was good. It shows the leadership around the club is good. We've got a lot of confidence going into round one."
Simon Black is a midfielder in NAB AFL Fantasy. He averaged 81.8 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub.
Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
