Nick Malceski describes last Thursday as his ‘bad day’. When the worst fears about his right knee injury were confirmed, the Swans defender got down on the world. He admits he let out plenty of emotion that night - which is understandable given this was his third serious knee injury in six years.

The next morning, the 26-year old defender was in surgery, having the same LARS reconstruction he had undergone almost three years before to the day.

That evening, Malceski shunned the crutches being offered to him by doctors, and walked out of hospital and straight on to the comeback trail.

The now upbeat Malceski is embracing the challenge ahead and has his sights set on a return to the field as soon as possible.

“My knee is feeling good, I’m walking around and doing exercises on it. It’s feeling a lot stronger than what it was last time. Not having a break between when I did it and the operation has helped out a lot,” he said.

“Because I’ve done it before I’m staying confident. It’s a good challenge for me, I’m 26 and I’ve had three serious knee injuries, so this next three months is a huge challenge.

“Last time I didn’t know what to expect. Because I was the first athlete in Australia to get the LARS surgery done, I didn’t really have anyone to talk to.
“Now I’m really keen to get into my rehab and I don’t want to feel like I’ve missed a lot of footy, I want to feel like I’m always involved and never far away from the team,” Malceski said.

In 2008, Malceski became the first AFL player to undergo a LARS reconstruction. He created headlines by returning to the field 11 weeks later.
Despite wide debate about the merits of the LARS surgery, Malceski’s confidence in the procedure is unwavering.  

“I didn’t hesitate with it at all. I’m here speaking to you now, I’m doing a TeamSwans clinic tonight out at the Forest Lions in Sydney’s north, and it’s only four days after my operation.

“You can sit in bed with a brace on your leg for six weeks with the conventional surgery, or you can do what I’m doing and get back into it.”

Malceski is aware that he struggled with form when he returned to the field after his last reconstruction in 2008, but says he has learned some valuable lessons from that experience.

“Last time I fell into the trap of thinking my form would just come back, but now I know just how hard I have to work on it,’’ he said.

 “I got complacent within myself. I know this time I need to push myself to get back to the level that I was at. The good thing is that I’ve had a good solid four months of the pre-season, I’ve been running personal bests and I’m only going to miss about a week of exercise, so I won’t lose too much fitness.’’

Malceski says team-mates such  as Rhyce Shaw and Jarred Moore have helped him stay upbeat. “They came around last Thursday night to see me and it really lifted me. I know I’ve got so much support here at the Club and having done LARS, I don’t look at this as a long-term injury.’’

Malceski expects to be on the exercise bike by the end of this week and running on the treadmill in a few weeks. He wants to return to the field as soon as possible, but won’t rush it. “I’ll let my knee tell me when it’s right to play again but hopefully tthat's sooner rather than later.’’