HENRY Playfair has vowed he will still play at the elite level despite a crippling hamstring injury that has all but ruined his two seasons at the Sydney Swans.

The tall forward underwent a third operation on his troublesome hamstring last month, effectively ruling him out of playing this year.

Playfair’s two-year contract with the Swans expires at the end of this season and with just 11 games to his name since arriving at the club from Geelong, he conceded his future in Sydney was uncertain.

“I want to keep playing – that’s the bottom line. That’s all I can say about it – I want to get my body right and I think I still have something to offer at AFL level,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to the coaches and they can’t really say either way. It all depends on how the operation goes and how I’m looking towards the end of the year.

“I’ve got a little bit of time now so if I can roll into a pre-season in really good nick then I think I can play well next year and hopefully they think the same.”

The 26-year-old said it was “amazingly frustrating” to have been struck down with injury almost immediately after arriving at the club after being traded by Geelong.

“I sometimes can’t believe that it’s happened like this,” he said.

“I worked hard in rehab [last year] to get up for 11 games and to have the same problem come back when I got my head around having another big pre-season… you just have to keep adjusting your mindset and coping with disappointment.

“I can’t stress how hard it was for me to deal with but at the end of the day, there are bigger problems out there and this is just another sports injury.”

Despite his frustration, Playfair said he was relieved to have finally addressed the chronic ailment after two earlier surgeries failed to rectify the problem.

The operation involved slicing his hamstring tendon in half at its upper attachment and stapling it to the bone, securing the tendon and freeing the associated nerves that were causing him so much pain.

“We would have tried a dozen different people who say they can fix you, so… to actually find this surgeon who seemed to be the one that [recognised] my symptoms, I was actually looking forward to it because I was sick of treading water and trying different exercises,” he said.

“This is a pretty drastic measure but I was happy that something was being done.”

And Playfair said the early signs were positive.

“I haven’t had any pain that I used to have since the operation so that’s pretty good,” he said.

“It’s still quite sore so I’m not sure if it’s 100 per cent worked but I’ll probably know when I start jogging in about a month.

“My whole left leg has wasted away – this is the third operation I’ve had – so it’s going to take some time to get strong enough to start doing some solid sessions and start sprinting.

“I’m still hanging on to a little bit of hope that I might be able to get up for a couple of games this year. Realistically, it’s probably not going to happen.”