While Brumbies director of rugby Laurie Fisher has cautioned against an immediate return to the field this season, Vaea has told teammates he would resume training next week and was aiming to play for the Gungahlin Eagles in the John I Dent Cup competition within a month.

Vaea has been sidelined since October 2012, when doctors discovered blood clots in his calf, which stemmed from a life-threatening heart condition. On blood-thinning medication and restricted from doing any heavy training, Vaea received a medical clearance from heart specialists this week.

Although he is no longer contracted to the Brumbies, the Super Rugby franchise has supported Vaea in his recovery. The Tongan No.8 will be invited to train with the Brumbies outside his work hours and, depending on his progress, also train with Canberra's National Rugby Championship squad.

Vaea was an onlooker at Gungahlin training with Brumbies winger Henry Speight on Thursday night and will begin training with the Eagles on Tuesday.

Gungahlin coach and former Wallabies forward Owen Finegan said it was only early days, but a Super Rugby return wasn't out of the question if Vaea could maintain his health.

"Why not? He's definitely a player who makes an impact out on the field, he's very physical and powerful, much like [Brumbies forward] Fotu Auelua,'' Finegan said. "He's had a taste of it before, he knows what it takes. He's going to get stuck into training from next week, do two or three weeks of training, see how he goes, then try to have his first game [of club rugby]."

Vaea, now working as a labourer, was once considered one of the Brumbies' brightest prospects. Fisher was elated for Vaea, but curbed expectations of a comeback.

"It's fantastic news for him, he's a wonderful guy and a very good footballer," Fisher said. "He was a very important part of our squad, but just to be able to wake up each day knowing you're reasonably healthy is fantastic for him.

"It'll be a slow, six-month build-up, I wouldn't expect him to be playing any rugby in 2014. Hopefully he'll just be graduating training with a view to seeing where he's positioned to resume playing rugby next year, then we can make an assessment from there.

"To get him back into the training environment will be a tremendous lift psychologically for him."