Initially set to miss between 6-10 weeks after an injuring his hamstring in the round two loss to Kingborough, the 29-year-old sat out just three games.

"Realistically he's probably been nearly ready to go for a couple of weeks now but we obviously didn't want to push that," Lauderdale coach Daniel Willing said.

"It's been really special to watch him do his rehab and see how professional he is.

"Just to have him back on the field with his leadership and ability to be able to direct and teach on the ground I think will give our young blokes some real confidence.

"They all look up to him and they're all learning a lot from him so to have him out on the ground will be pretty special for them."

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Complacency not a word in Thorp's dictionary

Willing said a mid-season resurgence wouldn't come easily for the 1-4 Bombers despite several strong finishes in recent seasons.

"Traditionally Lauderdale have probably been slow starters through those years where they made those grand finals - this is probably a bit of a different group.

"We're not quite as experienced as the group that got to those grand finals, we're pretty aware of where we're at.

"There was a lot of change over the pre-season at our footy club so we've just got to be nice and patient and understand that we've got a bit of youth in the team now so it might take us some time, but we're pretty confident we'll get it right.

"Give us a little bit of time and we'll start playing some really good footy."

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