It’s a recurring two-minute window that has been the hardest part of Rory Sloane’s past five months.

Not when his right knee buckled underneath him on Adelaide Oval and he knew instantly that his season was over. Or contemplating the reality of his next 12 months from his hospital bed after surgery, or lying on the couch at home in a knee brace.

But the two minutes in the changerooms when the players go from being huddled around Coach Matthew Nicks to making their way up the Bob Hammond Race ready for battle.

Where if they look left they see the name of every player to have ever worn the Adelaide guernsey printed on a wall and if they look right they stare back at their game face in the reflective glass.

It’s not like Sloane isn’t there. He is. As loud and vocal as ever and still the captain of the team.

But he’s not at the front of the pack. He’s three paces behind, wearing pants and a polo shirt and knowing there is nothing he can physically do to influence whether in two hours’ time they walk back down that ramp in jubilation from a win or in the awkward silence that always follows a loss.

“The hardest thing for me has been walking out behind the guys before a game, because that’s the part of footy I miss the most,” he said.

“The two minutes watching the boys walk out, that feeling of nervous energy going out on ground, I missed that a lot.

“Sitting on the bench allowed me to still feel part of it and have some input but I’m glad I don’t have to miss any more footy now.

“The other thing I’ve missed is surfing, that’s gotten to me as well.”

It wasn’t surfing weather when Sloane arrived to grey skies and rain at the Club for another gym session last Friday morning.

Wearing Crows shorts and a green singlet he walks through an empty locker room then upstairs to get to work.

Riley Thilthorpe, Andrew McPherson and Tom Doedee were already in the gym and soon they were joined by Wayne Milera as well who spent every day of last off-season in the gym and knows all about the rehab grind.

Sloane greets strength coach Josh Manuel and rehab co-ordinator and physio Tim Parham with high-fives, chats to assistant coach James Rahilly in between sets and when McPherson – who is rehabbing a knee injury of his own – rings the bell attached to the squat rack to mark a milestone in his recovery, Sloane lets out a loud cheer from the elliptical machine in the corner of the room.

His schedule currently involves five gym sessions a week on his upper and lower body, with a focus on strengthening his hips, glutes, hamstrings and back.

He is doing some running on the Alter-G weight bearing treadmill and recovery is usually in his ice cold pool at home.

“It’s more for a mental thing for me, a great way to start my day – better than two coffees,” he said.

“I’ve done a lot of learning about the process of rehab, and the phase I’m in at the moment is called eccentric strength work – heavy loads and holding under tension.

“I’ve loved working with Joshy Manuel and Tim Parham and Darren Burgess, it’s given me a greater understanding of what I’m doing.

“I’m really fortunate, I get to spend five days a week with guys who want to help me get my knee back in the best shape possible and I’ve really enjoyed coming in here.

“I’m 32 and my whole goal has been to be in the best nick of my career, and that’s a goal I set those guys as well, that’s what I’m going after.

“I’ve had a huge gym focus and been able to put on a bit of weight which I haven’t been able to do in the past, add some lean muscle mass, which is going to be a really good base to work off.”

Sloane’s rehabilitation journey began the morning after the night of April 16 when he suffered the injury every footballer dreads.

With Adelaide leading Richmond by 21 points and 16:32 left on the clock in the final quarter, the ball went inside 50m when Sloane was battling Nick Vlastuin for front position when his right knee buckled sideways.

As play went on, Sloane lay on his back clutching his leg then tried to hobble his way to the bench before eventually succumbing and putting a hand on the shoulder of two trainers either side of him.

“I’ve still watched it back a few times because people have said to me ‘how did you do that?’,” Sloane said.

“But I knew straight away. I felt that explosion and I’ve heard enough from what everyone says like Andy Otten, Tex, Doods, Smithy, my sister, Chels, all these people who have done them.

“And when you watch enough footy you know the mechanism that causes it.”

Scans 24 hours later confirmed the ACL rupture and Sloane had surgery within days, but his mind had turned to coming back before he’d even left Adelaide Oval.

“I always thought that if I did a knee I’d retire and go surfing or something else, I wouldn’t want a year of rehab,” he said.

“But I remember walking off and I had a moment where I sort of smiled and looked around and thought ‘I can’t wait to get back out here again’, which was the opposite reaction to what I thought I’d have.”

Five months on as he rebuilds not only his right knee but his entire body, his optimism remains.

Sloane has added a few kilograms of lean muscle mass and been able to address physical deficiencies which had otherwise been overlooked in his career.

“Once I start running the challenge will be how do I hold that weight, I don’t want to hold it all because my playing weight is about 83-84kg, but it’s about having a bit more strength around my glute and hip area,” he said.

“I’ve also really enjoyed getting back on the bike to get that aerobic blow, because you feel good in the gym but when you can’t run you miss and crave that big lung workout.

“Between the bike, elliptical machine and a few upper body sessions I’ve been able to get that.

“I’ve had a lot of support from people in here, some of our own players, my sister (Shae) whose done three (knee injuries), Tim Parham and our HPT staff Darren Burgess and Josh Manuel, we have some of the best in the world here to work with me. I’ve sat down with them multiple times to ask what should we do here, should we try this, do I need to go somewhere for a little training stint?

“I know I’m in the best hands.”

The only break he’s had from the daily grind was a family holiday to Fiji earlier this month.

“I didn’t take any time off at the start because I wanted to get the real basics of the rehab right early and be involved for the rest of the season,” he said.

“The trip to Fiji was going to be a bit different, we had that planned for a while and I was going to be surfing, but it was a perfect getaway as a young family the boys had a great time.”

Sloane will be 33 by the time next season starts and knows there is still a lot of work ahead of him to return to football next year, but he’s embracing the physical and mental challenge head on.

“Being positive is a choice, to find good things in situations that’s how I’ve chosen to live most of my life, I enjoy being around people who are like-minded and it’s a much better way to operate,” he said.

“So many great things have already come from this. You need 16 weeks to build up to running a marathon and I’ve got a full 12 months to get myself in as good a nick as possible.

“And I’ve always lacked a bit of strength around that hip, glute area and this has been an opportunity to address that. That’s the bit I’m excited about returning to footy, how I’ll feel stronger.

“And if you look at the team Sammy Berry played big midfield minutes this year, Harry Schoenberg, Jake Soligo, these guys are so far ahead through circumstances and that’s very exciting for our football club.”

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