Sydney defender Alex Johnson will make his long awaited Australian rules football comeback on Saturday, after undergoing five knee reconstructions which have prevented him playing a senior game for 1736 days.
Johnson, 25, last played an AFL match in Sydney's 2012 grand final win over Hawthorn, which was the 45th match of a senior career, which started in 2011.
He played in a couple of pre-season games in 2013 and briefly in a reserves match in 2014 and will make his comeback in a NEAFL clash with Canberra Demons in Canberra.
Some of the Swans playing in Fridays AFL game against Melbourne at the MCG plan to rush to Canberra to see their much admired teammate's return to action.
Johnson's terrible run started when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the 2013 pre-season competition.
He has endured 12 operations and a rare infection.
"Over the last few years I've just figured out how to deal with those setbacks and how to move forward," Johnson said.
"It is just something within me that I have been able to keep positive and keep everything in perspective.
"I have always had that goal of returning to the field and that is what I want to achieve."
Despite his ordeals and his lengthy layoffs, the Swans belief in Johnson hasn't wavered and they have stuck by the Victorian.
"There's a few reasons. One is the belief that he can still be a good quality AFL player," Swans coach John Longmire said.
He considers Johnson's story, which revolves around him being the first player to try to return to the AFL after five knee reconstructions, as one of the most inspiring in the game.
"His mental resilience is as strong as I've ever seen and his ability to put the setbacks to one side and keep concentrating on the future has been at an incredibly high level," Longmire said.
Only around a quarter of Sydney's list have played alongside Johnson.
Among Johnson's many well wishers is Geelong forward Daniel Menzel, who underwent four knee reconstructions, but has played the majority of the past one and a half seasons.
"Mate really cherish it, which I know you will," Menzel said in a message to Johnson.
"You'll come back and you will be a great player, so congrats to you and to the Swans as well for sticking by you."
On Saturday Johnson, who played in the No.34 guernsey, will for the first time wear No.2, which was previously worn by Rhyce Shaw, now the Swans' NEAFL coach and a former teammate.
"I'm sure at the stage he runs out on the ground there will be a few tears in people's eyes and certainly in mine," Shaw said.
