GEELONG recruit Mitch Clark has recovered from the calf injury that kept him sidelined for the second half of the season and is expected to begin pre-season training when the club returns in November.
The 27-year-old key forward, who joined the Cats during last season's trade period, has been at the club during recent weeks doing conditioning work after his niggling calf was given the all clear.
He will soon leave for a holiday ahead of pre-season training in preparation for 2016.
Geelong football manager Steve Hocking told AFL.com.au the Cats were pleased with Clark's progress.
"He's fully recovered," Hocking said.
"He's doing off-season training [so has] been at the club regularly for the past couple of weeks now. He will [then] join back into pre-season training when everyone returns."
The talented Clark kicked 14 goals in eight games with the Cats and brought up his 100th game during the season, but he didn't play after suffering a calf injury in round nine that lingered throughout the back half of the season.
Clark battled foot and soft tissue injuries after joining Melbourne from the Brisbane Lions in 2012 and then stepped away from the game in 2014 after being diagnosed with depression.
Melbourne traded Clark to Geelong in 2014 in a deal that saw Travis Varcoe land at Collingwood and Heritier Lumumba join the Demons.
The Cats had a bad run with injuries during 2015 but had few players undergoing surgery post-season.
Ruckman Dawson Simpson had a shoulder operation and midfielder Jordan Murdoch had an operation on his finger and a minor hip procedure.