A couple of months have ticked by since spinal surgery which ended Nick Stevens' season and Stevo has resumed training - not quite at full intensity - but not far off it. Body contact remains off-limits, however, and the date for his return to action remains locked in at 2008. Otherwise, as he reports in his fourth diary entry exclusive to carltonfc.com.au, all's going well. Then again, if only the Blues could start winning …

I've started to step up training a fair bit now. I'm running four times a week and getting into some light skills work. It feels similar to getting back into pre-season - you've had a break but it's a little harder because I've done nothing for eight weeks and I was in bed for three of those weeks. It's been a bit tougher getting going in that sense, but I've started to feel great over the past week or so. It’s coming on well. I've been doing some running sessions with Cameron Cloke and we're both enjoying it and we've set our sights on getting as fit as we can for next year. I've run with Libba a few times and Paul Ford our fitness guy. Having company helps the motivation and adds that competitive element. I run with a heart-rate monitor as part of a set program, so it's not just a leisurely jog. Today I did three-point-two kilometres then some light skills then four five-hundreds on the clock after that.

I'm starting some rehab work in the gym with light weights and what we call core stability work, a lot of trunk stuff. That's a program set by Paul Ford in conjunction with the physio and the doctors. I saw the specialist about two weeks ago, just after my last diary instalment and got the all-clear to do everything. He's very pleased with the way my recovery is going. I can do everything apart from contact work - I won’t be able to have contact until the end of the year, but I have the green light for just about everything else. I just have to be smart in the way I go about it and build into it and not attack it like a bull at a gate.

As far as my neck is concerned, I feel perfectly normal. It’s as though I've never been injured or had anything wrong with me. That's the frustrating thing - in myself, apart from my fitness, I feel like I'm ready to play. So fitness is right at the top of my list of priorities right now.

Over in Perth on the Friday ahead of the Dockers game I did a full training session with the boys. That was my first one since the injury and it was the first time I'd handled the ball in ages. Hopefully we can fit a bit more lane work and skills into my program because it was great to work with balls again. It was fantastic at Subi to be out there with the boys and they really made me feel a part of the group again.

My main reason for travelling to Perth was to help out in the box on match day. It was an eye-opener to see how much pressure the coaches are under, the way they have to track the opposition, identify set plays, put strategies in place and plan ahead. There's a lot more that goes into the game than just getting our own house in order. My role was to assist Brett Ratten and Craig Bradley with the midfielders. At half-time and after the game I got together one-on-one with most of the midfielders - they're always looking for feedback and I felt that I had a few insights and ideas to help them out. Denis values everyone's opinion in the box and everyone's encouraged to speak up if they have something to contribute. I tended to sit back a bit when the game was underway to try to take it all in and hopefully over the next few weeks I can get involved a bit more.

The exercise reminded me once again how the overview is much clearer from the box than it is on the ground. Things that you think you can get away with as a player get spotted straight away. There really is nowhere to hide and there's not much that the coaches miss - good and bad. I'm sure I will be a better player for the experience when I get back.

The match itself was disappointing. In the first-half we were in the game but probably overused the footy a bit which made it tougher. In the second-half we fell away which was not what we wanted. Obviously the last couple of weeks have been below par - we had our chances late in the game against Melbourne - but hopefully we can be much more competitive and see a win in the next few weeks.

The big talking point regarding Carlton over the past week has been Brendan Fevola, of course, and his suspension by the club. It was not just his conduct on the field against Fremantle, but it's been building up over time. It was a good statement by the club that the team is bigger than the individual. I'm certain Fev will come back and play his role in the team and we'll see a better Brendan Fevola for it.

We're a young group and we've got to set a standard and that's what the club has done. The boys supported the club's stance 100 per cent but it's time to move on and the place will be better for it. All the boys want Fev to stay - he's such a great player when he's on song. We just want the best Brendan Fevola to come back and play footy and I'm sure that's what he's going to do - working hard and kicking bags.

I had to do some functions and media last Sunday, the president's lunch and a coterie group and an interview on Triple-M - any way to help out the club is all good fun. Sometimes you get interviewed at the president's lunch but this time I just mingled and had a chat with the guests and sponsors.

And I'll be doing my bit for the club again up at Mansfield this week, on Thursday - a huge clinic with the local kids. We've got a property up that way so I love getting up there and the clinic should be great fun. Gibbsy and a few of the boys are coming up for the day. We're not staying over unfortunately, but we all enjoy getting out and about.

I'll be back in the box this weekend up in Sydney and it will be good to watch the Swans midfield in action from a coach's viewpoint. They’ve been the hardest side in the competition for a few years and we can all learn from the way they go about it, especially in the midfield. It's a tough ask for our boys, but we reckon we cam match up OK and, who knows, we saw Brisbane beat West Coast last weekend so anything's possible. Hopefully by the time I file my next entry I'll have the inside story on a couple of magnificent wins to tell you all about.