The wellbeing of Jack Steven, who suffered a stab wound in his chest, is the overwhelming priority for Geelong.

The club said on Monday it was too soon to speculate when the recruit will return to AFL action.

Steven, 30, was unable to inform police of details of the incident, which occurred on Saturday night.

The Herald Sun reported that police investigating the stabbing believe Steven was attacked by someone who knows him.

But charges are unlikely unless Steven tells police his version of events.

Steven was recovering in The Alfred hospital in Melbourne on Monday, with no further surgery required.

“Obviously it’s being investigated by the police at the moment, so we’ve got to be very careful not to speculate and make assumptions,” Geelong general manager of football Simon Lloyd told reporters.

“We’ll allow the police to do all their investigations.

“Really, at the moment the focus is on health and support for Jack.”

Geelong’s medical team has been in contact with the trauma doctors at The Alfred hospital.

“Where he received the injury was under the right thoracic, so in his chest,” Lloyd said on Monday.

Jack is very lucky … He’s recovering. He doesn’t require any further operation. He doesn’t need any exploratory surgery, so that’s a real positive in what is not great circumstances.’’

The Cats players returned to training on Monday before the scheduled season restart on June 11.

They have been kept informed about the situation concerning Steven, who joined the club in the off-season after a decorated career at St Kilda, where he won four best-and-fairest awards.

With hospital patients limited to one visitor per day due to COVID-19 regulations, no Geelong official has yet been able to see Steven.

“Jack comes from a very tight-knit family and he has his mum and dad around him at the moment,” Lloyd said.

“He has his partner and his siblings as well, so he has a lot of support.

“Since Jack has arrived at the Geelong football club he hasn’t missed a beat. He’s training really well, been in great spirits and is really popular.

“Really now we need to give him the space he needs during this point of time.

“Hopefully he does have a quick recovery and then we will assess where we go from there.

“… we’re not even thinking about Round 2 for Jack at the moment.

“The focus is on just getting out of hospital.”

Steven came close to AFL retirement last year as he dealt with mental health issues, playing just seven games in 2019.

-AAP