TO watch Daniel Menzel fly for the ball is to see a man playing with rare confidence in a set of knees that have failed him so many times before.

Sunday’s promising VFL performance against Frankston provided renewed hope that his remarkable comeback is on the right track.

Based on the way he marked overhead, changed direction at pace and attacked the contest, Menzel should believe an AFL return is imminent.

The 23-year-old has now played four comeback matches this season.

That’s more footy than he played between 2012 and 2014.

His first half against the Dolphins was as good as you would want to see from a player who has come back from the depths of football adversity he has.

He kicked three goals, brought down a couple of strong overhead marks on the lead, jumped into contests, changed directions confidently and kicked for goal accurately.

In time, the polish in his field passing will return, but the foundation is there.

Menzel appears to be playing the same half-forward role that Shane Kersten is filling at AFL level.

Kersten is hardly setting the world on fire, so the spot is there for Menzel to take in the coming weeks.

The mood out of the Cattery is Menzel probably needs one or two more VFL games to solidify his match conditioning.

History has told us never to look too far ahead with Menzel, but his knee is standing up to the type of pressure it buckled under in the past.

There was a collective gasp among Cats’ fans on Sunday when he stopped dead in his tracks changing direction at centre-half forward.

It was an innocuous action but so similar to the twist that saw his anterior cruciate ligament rupture on a footy ground three times before. But up he got, and away he went.

Then he charged off his line to block for Zac Bates who was running towards the attacking 50.

Another collective breath. It was shaping like the night he collided with Paul Puopolo in the 2011 qualifying final.

Except this time he bounced away and ran off.

Just before halftime, a pack was forming at centre-half forward.

media_camera Daniel Menzel takes a screamer against Frankston. Picture: Arj Giese

The footy was bombed to the hot spot and Menzel, coming from about three deep, leaps high into the air, sticks both knees into the back of Frankston’s Daylan Kempster and comes down safely with the ball in hand.

Local photographer Arj Giese captured the moment beautifully.

It’s an image that should warm the heart of every Cats fan who ever wondered whether the Steve Johnson clone would ever ply his trade in the forward line again.

It seems like there is no holding back anymore.

Things didn’t fall Menzel’s way after half time. He came in at the main break with 15 possessions, finished with 21. The rain and swirling winds didn’t help, but his work was done.

You couldn’t miss his beaming grin after the match. In the rooms, he walked over to Josh Cowan shook his hand and shared a moment.

Cowan’s luck has been just as wretched as Menzel’s, but finally he, too, is back to show why the Cats have invested so much faith, time and effort into his rehabilitation.

He used his zippy pace to find the footy 22 times and more often than not nailed his passes by foot, working hard both ways.

Nathan Vardy also took strides towards an AFL return but looks like he needs another couple of matches. He, too, is jumping without fear of the consequence on his reconstructed knee.

Vardy, who looks about 10kg heavier in the upper body, presented hard, took two contested marks and let probably another three attempts slip through his hands.

The fate of whether Menzel, Cowan and Vardy remain on the Geelong list next year depends on how they finish the year.

Cats coach Chris Scott last month admitted there was only so long the club could carry so many players with long-term injuries.

But the past fortnight has proved why the Cats have been so patient. The potential is there. Now they just need some luck.