Majak Daw says he’s a realistic chance to play in the season opener after a promising recovery from knee surgery.

The North ruckman-forward had an operation in August to repair his posterior cruciate and is ahead of schedule.

"I'm back to full running at the moment so not too far off," Daw told the Herald Sun’s Eliza Sewell.

"Hopefully by the end of the month I'll be back to some sort of training."

However if he’s available, it remains to be seen whether he’ll line up for the Kangaroos or Werribee Tigers.

"It's positive news for me because it means I'll be right for Round 1, whether that be in the VFL or AFL.

"One thing I don't want to be doing is be in rehab while the boys are playing."

At the Australian open helping young kids play tennis along with Liam Anthony, Jack Ziebell and Robbie Tarrant, Daw said his rapid progress has been a surprise.

"When I had the surgery at the end of the year there was three games to go and I didn't know what to expect," he said.

"We had Hamish McIntosh (now at Geelong), he had pretty similar surgery and he's only getting back now.

"Just being in rehab for that long, I've never been in rehab for that amount of time, it gets repetitive at times so I'm really excited to get back to training."