Troubled Brisbane forward Brendan Fevola can bounce back from his personal problems and play a key part for the Lions this year, according to former teammate Andrew Carrazzo.

Fevola is in rehab after being arrested for drunken behaviour on New Year's Day and his future with the club is hanging by a thread.

The incident is the latest example of the star goalkicker's embarrassing behaviour stretching back several years.

He was offloaded by the Blues after an alcohol-fuelled on-camera performance during the 2009 Brownlow Medal.

Brisbane controversially drafted him with the support of coach Michael Voss but he twice hit the headlines as a Lion in 2010.

However Carrazzo, a friend of Fevola's, is convinced that if he gets the support from the club he needs the spearhead has the ability to get his life back on track.

"For all the stuff he's been through he's a pretty resilient guy and he's got a pretty thick skin," Carrazzo said.

"I just hope his personal life can get back on track and I've got no doubt that if Brisbane are willing to back him in, that he can bounce back and still play good footy.

"I'm friends with him and hopefully he gets his life in order and gets his priorities a bit sorted out.

"But I do feel for him a little bit. It's not great what he's going through but hopefully the support's good enough around him that he can bounce back."

Meanwhile, as the Blues returned to the training track today, Carrazzo said he was confident the pain of losing last year's elimination final would spur them to improve.

"Speaking to a few of the boys, that loss against Sydney in the final definitely hurt for longer than it had in previous years.

"We felt like we were so close but still we realise we've got a long way to go if we're going to challenge for finals again, and for top four hopefully.

"We've definitely got the talent there and the application's there so there's no reason why we can't," he said.

Their campaign will be bolstered by one of the most brutal preparations the midfielder has seen.

"This pre-season has definitely been really hard, probably the most challenging mentally and physically I've had so far but everyone's in really good nick so there's no excuses for us," Carrazzo said.

Blues forward Lachie Henderson was restricted to stationary drills at training on Thursday following pre-Christmas hip surgery.

The 21-year-old is unlikely to return to full training before the NAB Cup pre-season competition in February.

"This is a setback for Lachie, but we were fortunate enough to be able to operate on him before Christmas, giving him time to recuperate during the break," Blues football manager Steven Icke told carltonfc.com.au.

"We envisage Lachie will miss up to eight weeks (so) that will see him return to full training during the NAB Cup competition."

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