Terrific article on Nathan, seems to have a great attitude and perspective on things now. May be what makes the difference for him now.
He's obviously up against it to have a really good career from here, but I haven't given up on him playing and contributing for us, as it's entirely possible that the scar tissue had been gradually building up since his last op, and had just gotten to the stage where it needed to be removed, but now that that's hopefully happened, he may get a relatively free run at it until it builds up again (perhaps over the next 2-3 years).
Given what he showed he was capable of last year once he got going, I don't really see why he won't be able to go at least as well this year, if he has a good run at it for the rest of the year- as he'd have the confidence from how well he was going by the end last year, and he sounds like he's done a lot of work over the preseason and again now, so hopefully that fitness base will also help him to go better this year.
Really wish him a good go at it from here. At the very least for a year or two.
Feel like we just need to get him to the starting line and to play a few games. If we do then it will be a huge load off him and it will completely change the narrative, as it will no longer be "will he ever play a game", and he will just be like everyone else in the AFL playing senior footy.