WOUNDED Brisbane Lion Daniel Rich is hoping to improve his leadership skills during his long road back from a serious knee injury.
The 23-year-old midfield ace ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in round three against Gold Coast and underwent a full reconstruction.
Now four weeks into a 12-month rehabilitation, Rich says his spirits are high despite the long road that lies ahead.
The always-relaxed West Australian said he knew it was a serious injury the moment he heard a "click" as he fell across the body of Sun Greg Broughton, who was firing out a handpass.
But Rich is philosophical and says there's no use looking back.
"I've actually been pretty good," Rich told AFL.com.au. "I've moved on pretty quick. Once you know what it takes, it's a step-by-step and goal-by-goal process.
"It's obviously pretty tough because I'm not doing what I love doing but I'm going to be out there one day, and I know how well I do things now is going to have an effect on later.
"Things could be a lot worse.
"I'm allowed to be a bit down … I hate watching but there's people out there going through a lot worse than me."
Confined to his couch for two weeks post-surgery, the avid golf and surfing nut said he was lucky to have the US Masters and Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach to keep him occupied.
Last week he returned to the club for the first time, and was seen walking around the boundary line at training with the aid of a walking stick.
Rich said he hated watching the club struggle in his absence, particularly with the likes of Matthew Leuenberger (knee), Brent Staker (calf) and Ash McGrath (calf) also missing, exposing an extremely young group.
But while the Lions dearly miss his cool head and booming left-foot kick on field, Rich is determined to make the most of his time off-field.
A member of the club's leadership group, Rich said improving that aspect was a big focus while he had extra time.
"It's going to be a fine balance," Rich said.
"At this stage of where I'm at, the knee's going to have more priority, but as a leader of the club, I want to be there for everyone else, I want to be there for the team and help out the young boys where I can.
"I'll still sit in on leadership meetings, I'll look to go in the coaches' box - it's still a big focus for me that I can use this time to grow my leadership.
"A the moment, the biggest thing is getting the knee right, but there's a lot of little things under that I want to get right over the next 10 or 11 months."
