Excitement machine Ellia Green looks likely to make her long awaited return from injury at next month’s Sydney 7s.
The 23-year-old required shoulder surgery in the off-season and hasn’t pulled on the gold jersey since the side’s Olympic triumph in Rio back in August.
However she has been training with the full-time squad and has recently begun contact work in the lead-up to the tournament which starts on February 3.
“I had the big dog, Sharni Williams running at me today and the shoulder felt great but having Sharni running at you didn’t feel so great,” Green said.
Her likely return leaving head coach Tim Walsh with a welcome selection headache with a full-strength squad to pick from.
“She’s shaping up really well,” Walsh said.
“A couple more little tests and we think she’ll be available for selection which is great news for the team.
“We’ll name the team next weekend but looking at it now we’ve probably got a full-strength squad available.”
The try-scoring speedster admitted spending time on the sidelines had been difficult but she had found a silver lining.
“It’s been tough, it’s been the longest time I have been out of action for,” Green said.
“On the good side, I’ve been able to watch lots of footage and I’ve been taking notes when the girls play and trying to analyse things a bit more.”
The welcome news of Green’s recovery comes the same day the Women’s draw was announced, the Olympic champions pooled with Brazil, Ireland and Fiji.
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