After injuring his knee in a pre-season training mishap in December 2009, Rodan became the second AFL player to have the revolutionary LARS procedure behind Sydney Swans defender Nick Malceski.
The Fijian-born on-baller returned to the field in just 16 weeks and showed he had lost none of his trademark speed and elusiveness, playing 19 games in 2010.
But after completing a month of pre-season training in preparation for 2011, he was forced to undergo a second LARS procedure in November when the original ligament failed.
The second procedure, which involved replacing the frayed ligament in his left knee with a new one, was less invasive than the first and Power football manager Peter Rohde said Rodan was a good chance to play against the Magpies.
"We haven’t set a return date for David, but we’re thinking it’ll be early in the season, if not round one," Rohde told afl.com.au.
"He’s back running and is looking and feeling really good, so…so far so good."
Rodan is one of only a handful of players likely to miss the club’s NAB Cup opener against Adelaide and Melbourne at AAMI Stadium on February 11.
Travis Boak (appendix), Jay Schulz (hamstring), Jason Davenport (shoulder) and Andrew Moore (groin) are all recovering from injury and Rohde said none of the underdone quartet would be risked in the first round of the NAB Cup.
"Jay’s hamstring injury was at the minor end of the scale… but he’d be touch and go for the first NAB Cup game. He’ll be back in full training by then, but I don’t think we’d risk him at that stage and Trav’s pretty similar," Rohde said.
"(Boak is) coming along no worries and will be joining in full training this week, but he’s missed a few weeks since having his appendix out and I would think we’ll bring him back a bit more slowly.
"Davenport will also be joining in full training this week and Andrew Moore has upped his running program, so I’d say all of those guys will be coming into contention by the second round of the NAB Cup seeing as it’s two weeks later."
Rodan, defender Jacob Surjan and new recruit Simon Phillips are the only players likely to miss the entire pre-season competition, which spans five weeks.
Surjan is making steady progress from a serious knee injury, while Phillips is waiting for clearance to join in full-contact drills after minor shoulder surgery.
In all, 12 Port Adelaide players have had surgery since the end of last season, but Rohde said all were progressing well.
"Touch wood we’d like to think we’ll have them all available for the first round," he said.
"We always knew we were going to have a few surgeries at the end of last season, so we’ve done all those. Hopefully, they get a lot of training in during January and February and that sets them up for the rest of the year."
