Sydney AFLW captain Chloe Molloy addresses 2024 injury denial head-on
And the dynamic forward has no regrets over Sydney's foiled attempt to initially hide the extent of her injury.
Molloy, 26, suffered the dreaded knee injury at training in September 2024, just one game into last season.
Now, she has next Friday's match against Richmond at North Sydney Oval in her sights.
'I'm back in a position where I can be up for round one selection, which I'm stoked with, and that's what I was always going to aim for,' Molloy told AAP.
'I'm in a position to be playing fully fit, not restricted. I'm just itching to get out there.
'I felt really at a loss on how to help the team last year.
'Especially when you're in a leadership position as well, and you're someone that they turn to, it broke my heart that I couldn't get out there.'
Molloy jarred her knee at a Friday training session but believed it was innocuous. But scan results that Sunday morning, hours before Sydney's clash with St Kilda, delivered the worst possible news.
When news broke that she had torn her ACL, both Molloy and Sydney initially denied it, not wanting to distract her teammates.
'Especially as a captain, I'm not going to do anything to jeopardise the performance of my team, and that's the overarching thing for me,' Molloy said.
'I can totally respect what people need to know.
'But for me, in the position that I was, I needed to do everything I could for my team to win, and that for me was the decision to not tell them.
'So I don't have any regrets about it.'
Molloy is reaping the rewards of her obsessive approach to rehab.
'From day one, I wanted to get back as soon as I could,' she said.
'So it dictated my life. On one hand, it was really good, because I was so tedious and diligent with my rehabbing.
'(But) it genuinely probably drove me insane.'
While injured, Molloy also completed a player development wellbeing course, and is trying to become better at finding balance and being present.
Molloy was one of the best players in the league before her injury and she and coach Scott Gowans believe she can quickly return to those heights
'I've done everything I can to put myself in this position,' she said.
'Scotty said before I played match sim for the first time: 'We've recognised it. Staff have recognised it. Players now see it, and now it's time for the world to see it'.'
The Swans are thinking big too.
'We want to be a finals team,' Molloy said.
'And we're not going to shy away from it.'
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