Spirited Richmond small forward Jake King is set to return to the playing field following an intensive pre-season of rehabilitation.

The plan is for King to play about a half in Richmond’s pre-season challenge match against Collingwood at Wangaratta on Saturday.

The 29-year-old veteran of 105 league games with the Tigers, underwent foot and shoulder surgery late last year, and has endured a gruelling pre-season on the recovery trail.

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“I had a big foot operation.  I hurt my big toe halfway through the season and it has been a big setback,” King told ‘Roar Vision’.

“We don’t think about it all that much, but it’s where you put all your pressure as a footballer – through the feet and through the big toe.

“That’s been causing me a bit of drama, but we’re on top of that now.  It’s all well and good and I’m back into full training with the main group.”

Because the nature of King’s injury problem prevented him from running, he was forced to find other ways of increasing his fitness levels over summer.

“Having that drama with the big toe restricts you from running for a good couple of months, which makes it pretty tough,” King said.

“Footy is a cut-throat world these days, and you’ve got all these young blokes coming through, putting pressure on you, so you need to be as fit as you can be . . .

“I was on the bike for a good one hour/hour and a half sessions, and was on a grinder for a good half-hour, going flat out on that, to the point where you are dry retching after pushing yourself to the limit.  I also had to do a fair bit of boxing and a fair bit of ‘cardio’ in the gym. Then, after a couple of months of that, I was able to start jogging.

“With the jogging side of things, you had to pick it up quick smart.  We all know that we get most of our fitness in football through running, so I had to get on top of that as early as I could.

“Just before Christmas, I started off slowly, jogging a few laps, but within the last month, I’ve been getting up over 10-11 kilometres per sessions, with the running.

“I’ve still been doing all the bike sessions and the grinder as well, just for that extra bit of fitness, and trying to keep up with the boys.”