FREMANTLE midfielder Rhys Palmer is confident he can recapture the elite running ability that drove his stellar 2008 debut season and saw him named the best young player in the land.  

And as the 2008 NAB Rising Star prepares for his first competitive run since requiring a knee reconstruction early last year, he said a heavy off-season focus on bulking up and working on his disposal should see him return a more complete player.

Palmer will play half a game with the East Fremantle reserves on Saturday and the 21-year-old said he was confident his reconstructed right knee wouldn't affect his admired gut-running ability.  

"I guess this week we'll get a gauge on where that's at, but I'm pretty confident it'll be back up to scratch, if not even better," Palmer said from Fremantle Oval on Thursday.

"It's hard to judge when you're running circles around an oval or running 150s.

"(But) I've done all the training and I've ticked all the boxes. I'm feeling good as well and I'm really confident in the knee and the body. I think I'm ready to go."

Sidelined since Fremantle's round-five clash against the Sydney Swans in 2009, Palmer said being a spectator for most of the season had shown him the importance of contested football.  

"I think that's what I base my game around, so I just tried to do my best in that aspect, as in try and get a bit bigger in the gym," he said. "Hopefully [I can] have an influence in that area this year."

Time on the sidelines also gave Palmer a chance to work on his disposal by foot, an acknowledged chink in the impressive youngster's armour throughout his 25-game career.

Palmer said the public focus on his kicking, which peaked early last year, had not affected him, but he has since worked closely with development coach Michael Prior to improve that aspect of his game.   

"The great thing about not being so good in that department is I'm still young in my career and I've got a lot of time to fix that," Palmer said. "I think I've taken the right steps.

"I back myself in all the time. I was still running around trying to get the ball and use the best option whether that be kick or handball, so that didn't affect me one bit.

"We've got extra kicking after each session and I think I've really got on top of that, so hopefully I can emulate that in a game."

Coach Mark Harvey has previously said he would like to give Palmer a full 12-month recovery, and the youngster said the coaches had held him back throughout his rehabilitation.  

However, he said he had taken the club doctors' advice on board and wouldn't rush himself back into senior football.  

Teammate Ryan Crowley, who joined Palmer in rehab last year with stress fractures in his foot, said he had no doubt Palmer would recapture the form he showed in 2008.   

"Rhys can always have an impact," Crowley said. "He just knows how to find the footy and he's a real professional around stoppages - he's a bit of a general already.

"He's just a really footy-smart kid, he knows footy. He'll be fine (and) I'm sure he'll be ready to go in a couple of weeks."