The 22-year-old's horror end to season 2013 began when he dislocated his shoulder against the Western Bulldogs in Darwin in round 10.
The decision was made to reconstruct Redden's shoulder in June. In July, he had the labrum cartilage sewn back onto the bone in both hips.
He then had his femur shaved to make it "a better fit".
Redden walked out of each of those procedures and had planned to be ready for the start of pre-season.
He would have been too, had he not suffered another injury during recovery.
"I was in rehab and I was away from the club, obviously. It was during our break, I was just running at a local oval and tweaked my knee a bit…I couldn't catch a break," Redden told AFL.com.au.
"That put me out for a few weeks and they decided to get my left adductor released – the same thing Moorey (Andrew Moore) had, I think Boaky's (Travis Boak) had it [and] 'Butch' (John Butcher).
"That was the most recent one, so I'm recovering from that and trying to get a bit of strength back in my hips and groins.
"Next year I'll be a new man."
The 205cm ruckman has made significant progress since his latest operation and skipped the Power's pre-season camp in Dubai to focus on personal recovery.
Redden said he was back running almost without pain and would resume full training before the New Year.
"Because I haven't done pretty much anything since July, I've just got to get my fitness back up," he said.
"At this stage I'm looking to be back into full training a bit after Christmas.
"I can see improvement, even over the last week, just starting to feel stronger again, getting back into the rhythm of training.
"I'm definitely confident [I'll be OK] for next year."
The good news for Redden is that 2013 was far from a wasted year.
His form leading up to round 10 was building, with impressive displays against Richmond (25 hit-outs, seven marks, 14 disposals), Carlton (16 hit-outs, four tackles, one goal) and Geelong (22 hit-outs, one goal, 11 disposals) before performing well against the Western Bulldogs until his injury (26 hit-outs, four marks, 12 disposals).
While his shoulder injury ended his year, he saw enough in his own game to convince him he could cut it at the elite level.
"I felt quite confident this year going into each game ... I do think it was a step forward," he said.
"It was very unfortunate for the shoulder to happen. I would have loved to have played finals with the boys but it just drives me further for next year.
"I'd love to either work with 'Lobbes' (Matthew Lobbe) or take that No.1 ruck spot back again."
Redden also said he would look to spend more time in attack next year with the introduction of the interchange cap.
While acknowledging his fitness still had some way to go before a dual role would be possible, Redden said the extra string to his bow would help him win his way back into the Power's starting side.
"My kicking is reasonable for a big guy, so I'd focus on the leading and smarts of playing up there," he said.
"I'll be working on my marking, pack marking, all that contest stuff as well."
Twitter: @AFL_Harry
