AARON Darling had it all worked out. The Victorian small forward, as part of his NAB AFL Academy program, was due to fly to Perth in early December to train with West Coast for his club placement.

He had organised to stay with important Eagles forward Jack Darling – his cousin – and was looking forward to spending a good chunk of time with him, having lived in separate parts of the country their whole lives.

But a week from stepping onto the plane, Darling had to call his more experienced relative (and interrupt his honeymoon) with some bad news.

The 2017 draft prospect had torn his anterior cruciate ligament at Dandenong Stingrays training, so his stint with the Eagles had been scrapped – as has pretty much all of his plans for this year.

"It was pretty disappointing to miss out on that experience, it would have been great," Darling told AFL.com.au this week while on the Academy's high performance camp in Florida.

"I don't talk to Jack heaps about footy but lately he has been saying to try to be as elite as I can with my rehab and to spend the time out of the game trying to improve the aspects of my game that I can while I'm not playing."

Darling has made that his aim this week, which he has spent with the national academy on its 12-day training camp in America.

The 17-year-old has been one of few of the 36 talented prospects sidelined, but has managed to continue his rehab program as he eyes a return to running next month.

That hasn't made it easier for Darling, however, who had been looking forward to the America trip a long time before his right knee buckled and changed the course of his draft season in an instant.

"It happened during a pretty normal drill, when I planted my foot and went to go in one direction but my foot just got stuck and collapsed a bit," he said.

"I tried to get back up and it felt really loose and I pretty much knew straight away that I'd done my knee. I have a rough idea where everything is in the knee and knew immediately that it wasn't good."

Darling has attacked the first part of his recovery period positively, and has also picked the brain of academy assistant coach Tadhg Kennelly, who underwent a knee reconstruction during his brilliant career with Sydney.

The injury has robbed him of a chance to move up the ground and into the midfield, something he was keen to try having established himself as a crafty and smart goalkicker, but he tries not to think about the possible draft implications.

"It does go through your mind about the draft and what it will mean for me, but I'm trying to stay positive and take it as it goes," he said.

Darling has seen first-hand the work required to get to the top level. He first met Jack Darling while the West Australian product was playing in the under-16 national carnival, and closely followed his progress as he became an Eagle.

Darling, who played 16 games for the Dandenong Stingrays last season as a bottom-ager, is keen to follow in his cousin's way.