Despite the disappointment of exiting his 150th game early with a calf injury, Jamie Macmillan remains bullish on his chances of playing this weekend against the Suns.
Although he's not a certain starter for the weekend, Macmillan said he’s keeping an open mind about his recovery and that he already feels like he’s on the mend.
“[My calf] was pretty ordinary on Saturday, pretty good on Sunday and today it’s feeling really good," he told North Media.
“If it keeps tracking that way I’m obviously a chance.
“It depends on how quickly your body can adapt to running, jumping, sprinting and that sort of thing.”
With this weekend's game against the Gold Coast being Jack Ziebell’s 200th, there is some added motivation for Macmillan to prove his fitness.
“'Ziebs' was awesome for me last week. He recognised the milestone of mine and I’d love to return the favour for a guy I’ve been playing with for ten years in his 200th,” Macmillan said.
“I know that if I’m not right to play he’d probably hate me more for playing so I’ll do what’s right on that front.”
The fact that there wasn't a specific moment where he felt his muscle pull or tear is a good sign according to Macmillan, especially considering that he was still relatively effective during the first quarter.
“I was able to do most of the things that I needed to do … but when I tried to get going after 13 or 14 minutes of not doing anything we put the cue in the rack.
“As hard of a pill it was to swallow… I didn’t want to let the boys down.”
Macmillan added that he’ll be given until the last possible moment to prove his fitness by the club physios, and will continue to play it by ear.
“Sometimes these things turn around really quickly… so I still give myself a chance now.”