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Essendon youngster Jayden Laverde back in light training after appendix surgery

Daniel Cherny
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Emerging Essendon forward Jayden Laverde has had  to deal with an unusual hiccup early in the pre-season after having his appendix removed.

Laverde, 20, has returned to light training duties after the surgery, which is not expected to have a major impact on his preparation for 2017.

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Banned Essendon players return to training

Jobe Watson and Dyson Heppell are among a number of Bombers returning to the pitch for pre-season training, 10 months after being banned by WADA for doping. Courtesy Seven News Melbourne.

The Victorian - taken two years ago in the draft at pick 20 - will be eyeing his first full season at senior level next year. Having played nine games straight from his debut in the back half of 2015, Laverde's second campaign at the Dons was hampered by a serious shoulder injury in round four that kept him out for nearly three months. However, by the end half of the year he had become a regular in the depleted Essendon side, finishing  with nine senior appearances.

Laverde also turned down a substantial contract offer from St Kilda  in September, signing a new two-year deal with the club he supported as a child.

Meanwhile, Xavier Richards is yet to receive a guarantee that he will be at an AFL club next year. Richards, 23, surprisingly requested a trade home to Victoria in October, barely a fortnight after playing in Sydney's losing grand final team against the Western Bulldogs. Richards turned down a contract offer from the Swans in seeking a move a to Victoria, but was left in limbo after attracting limited interest in the trade period before being delisted by Sydney.

Richards was given permission to train at Essendon -  where older brother Ted started his career - and spent the week on the track at Tullamarine.

It's understood he is yet to receive a commitment from the Bombers that they will select him in Friday night's draft, having failed to pick him up in the recently completed second delisted free agency window. The Dons - who have the No.1 pick in the draft in Sydney - did however acquire delisted Brisbane Lions goalsneak Josh Green as a delisted free agent, boosting competition for senior spots in 2017 as 10 of the players banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in January return.

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