Amid the rigours of a taxing AFL season, most players probably wouldn’t enjoy getting tackled to the ground by teammates at training.

For Nic Naitanui on his comeback path, however, it’s a welcome activity.

The West Coast ruckman is embracing the little signs of progress after returning to full training in the past week as he nears completion on his journey back from a second knee reconstruction.

“The majority of my stuff had been running and controlled contested stuff,” Naitanui told 7NEWS in an exclusive interview.

“But now it’s more so reacting to the footy and other players around me.

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“Things like crashing the packs or getting tackled by blokes more often is something I’ve looked forward to coming back, because it means that (return) date is a lot closer.

“I’ve had contact, I’ve had jumping into bags, wrestling, marking – all that type of stuff.

“When it’s more someone jumping into you or tackling you to the ground, it means the games are a lot closer.”

Camera Icon Nic Naitanui is closing in on a comeback. Credit: Jackson Flindell

Naitanui had initially targeted a pre-bye return as he plotted his comeback earlier this year.

But the Eagles and the star ruckman are taking a no-risk approach, with Naitanui aiming to be “110 per cent ready” before resuming and all but conceding he won’t feature before the club’s bye round in Round 13.

A potential return to footy could take place through the WAFL on June 22, the week after West Coast’s bye, before making an AFL push.

“I’ll build up until close to the bye,” he said.

“I think initially we might have said a little bit earlier. But I think we’ve got a pretty good understanding of what I need specifically.

“We’ll build on what we’re doing. The (team training) loads are pretty low during the week because they’re playing games on the weekend, so I do what they do and then I do a little bit extra afterwards.

“But we’ve got some bigger guys around, guys like Drew Petrie who help me out a fair bit, so I’m fortunate to have them.”

Play Video Duff and Quarters say the Saints will play a high-pressure game against West Coast on Saturday. The West Australian Video Duff and Quarters say the Saints will play a high-pressure game against West Coast on Saturday.

Naitanui said his teammates had embraced having him back at practice – but were showing him no mercy.

“Once you’re back in full training, it’s fair game,” he said.

“When you stuff up a drill or run in the wrong space, they say ‘you’ve been out of it too long’.

“But it’s always good fun. We have good banter at this footy club. We enjoy our footy and we love what we’re doing.”