Jackson Thurlow can't wait to shed his orange cap in the coming days, as he nears the end of a long journey back from a knee reconstruction.

The 22-year-old defender was injured during the Cats' pre-season match against Essendon in Shepparton in March, but he is now almost training without any restrictions.

Thurlow has been joining in the competitive match-simulation drills in recent weeks.

However, he has had to wear an orange cap, which denotes that he cannot be tackled with full force.

"The knee is coming along really well," Thurlow said on the final edition of PodCats for 2016, which will be available via iTunes, audioboom and geelongcats.com.au later this week.

"My fitness is getting there. 

"That's probably the one thing that takes longer than everything else - just, I guess, footy fitness ... getting hit, then getting up and running again.

Thurlow is set to have his first run without the orange cap in the coming days.

"I'll hopefully lose the orange hat either Friday or next week," he said. 

"So I'll hopefully get a good full-contact session in before Christmas."

Thurlow expects to line up in the Cats' opening JLT Community Series game against Hawthorn in his home town of Launceston on Friday, February 17. 

A long audio interview with Jackson Thurlow will feature in this year's final episode of PodCats, which will be published later in the week