Grand Uncle Horace
Shake down the thunder
He's back running but running does not equal full training.
Think of it as a delayed pre-season for Ling. Everything he's doing is a few months behind what the rest of the list is doing.
If I were to guess, I'd say he's in the equivalent of the November/December month of pre-season. That first stage where you're back after the lay-off, adjusting your fitness levels, doing laps and laps and laps and laps, except he probably needs to do even more than the regular players would because of the length of his lay-off (nearly 12 months as opposed to the six or so weeks the senior players usually have.) You can't rush someone back into full training, the real physical stuff that usually happens in the New Year, unless your certain they can handle it. Given his injury and his age, I'm not surprised the club is being cautious with the fitness stage of his pre-season.
Next step would hopefully be his return to full training, being able to do the competitive drills and physical contact, even some form of match sim throughout the weeks, just as the rest of the list was doing in January, except he will be doing it in April/May. If he can get through that and show the club that he is ready, I would expect him to be NEAFL-ready by late-May/early-June, which would be smack-bang during mid-season. He'd then have a solid block to mount a case for senior selection in the latter few months of the season.
Do you notice the problem with above though? It's all hypothetical. That's the plan, but things rarely go according to plan do they? He may not be ready for full training by April or May, or hell, he might even surprise us and be into it early. He might take longer to get himself ready for NEAFL than planned, or he might surprise and prove his readiness earlier than expected. These are all unknowns, which is why it would be reckless and misleading for the club to list him as anything other than 'indefinite.' So yes it's frustrating because we all want to see him in action, but if you put aside that frustration and think logically about it, he's on track with where he should be right about now, and all we can do is hope he stays on that course and avoids any more injuries or niggles along the way.
Hmnn. Just pessimistic I guess. Like everyone I want the kid to have the opportunity to strut his stuff. I bet he is as frustrated as hell.