AFTER suffering my first major setback in the club’s second NAB Cup match last year - and missing 10 weeks of football with a posterior cruciate ligament knee injury - I thought my bad luck with injury was over.

 

Having played my junior football feeling invincible - and seldom being injured - I knew nothing about the impact an injury could have, not only on your immediate football future, but also your life.

 

Injuring my finger in the last main session before flying to Adelaide to take on the Crows and the Power was shattering. It was something I completely did not see coming.

 

This has been my second serious injury ever. I missed a large amount of football at the same time last year, but this time around I am feeling double the impact.

 

Last year, was my third AFL season. I was coming off two good seasons with 40 games under my belt and I was genuinely excited about taking on the season with more confidence and belief, knowing what I was capable of achieving. I also felt like the team had something special just around the corner.

 

I’ve learned a lot during my time with injury. It’s important to approach your recovery with the same endeavour you approach your football, you must be patient and willing to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and apply immense attention to detail.

 

This was something I had been criticised for in my first couple of years.

 

Eventually I came back from my knee injury and played some OK footy towards the end of last year.

 

Having this in mind, my approach to season 2011 was different to other years.

 

I wanted to get through the entire pre-season and not miss a session through injury or soreness. I achieved this and in the lead-up to the intra-club match I hadn’t missed a beat. I was feeling awesome about my body, having put on a few kilos and feeling stronger. I had also improved small aspects of my game.

 

I remember the training session when the finger injury occurred. I was training the house down and only minutes before it happened, we had just finished a drill.

 

Nathan Jones came up to me and as we took a drink, he said: “I’m excited about you this year Morts”.

 

It put a smile on my face; to me this was symbolic of my hard work beginning to pay-off.

 

What happened after this drinks break changed things.

 

I went to tackle Dan Nicholson and my finger became somewhat tangled up in his bright yellow training bib. I didn’t think anything had happened; I just held my finger thinking it was a normal knock to the finger. I thought I was fine.

 

I then got the scans done and the Doc was correct. It was what he expected.

How could this happen again, I asked myself. Why do I keep getting these injuries? They’re not soft-tissue injuries or reoccurring problems.

 

Things could be a lot worse, however. I’m lucky I haven’t been injured during the season - or even worse, like having a season-ending injury.

 

I’m confident my injuries are behind me now.

 

I’m still very excited about this year. Hopefully I get back out there early in the season and the Dees can string together a couple of wins and potentially play some finals footy in 2011.