Injured Adelaide captain Rory Sloane is` vowing to return as "fit and fresh" as possible after suffering an AFL season-ending knee injury.
The 32-year-old Sloane is seeking a silver lining after undergoing a right knee reconstruction operation last week.
The Crows skipper has endured a tough injury trot in recent seasons - his knee injury follows a fractured eye socket and detached retina last season.
But his latest ailment didn't prompt retirement thoughts - unlike last season.
"The eye socket injury last year, realising that could have been a loss of sight," Sloane told reporters on Wednesday.
"That was probably the only moment I have had in my career where it's an injury like that can mean the end of your career, and loss of sight more importantly,.
"With one like this (knee), and I have had physios and HP (high performance) staff reinforce this, but having 11, 12 months to get as fit and fresh as you possibly can, that's a huge amount of time to get pretty healthy.
"So I look forward to sinking my teeth into it."
Sloane heard a "pop" in his knee during Adelaide's win against Richmond on April 16, immediately knowing the gravity of the injury.
When sent for scans to confirm the anterior cruciate ligament rupture, Sloane was already looking ahead.
"I was already thinking about 'this is going to be a great opportunity to freshen up, get the body right and launch into next season'," he said.
"Immediately your thought process goes to what can I control and how is thing going to look long term.
"And that is the goal, basically since the day after surgery: how am I going to best prep for round one next year."
Sloane, a popular AFL figure, said teammates and rivals had been among those offering support.
"There's so many people to lean on, the footy community is so good at reaching out to one another," he said.
"I have had so many players reach out that have experienced the same thing."
