Alex Johnson's determination has always stood out out the most to long-term mentor Rhyce Shaw, even before the defender's six AFL seasons of injury hell.
Shaw remembers Johnson's debut for Sydney in 2011 like it was yesterday.
"This big voice was barking orders at me," he recalled.
"I turned around and it was Alex. I went, 'What the ... shut up, mate. I'm the senior player here'.
"He was a fantastic leader on the field. He's determined and such a competitor."
Johnson and Shaw became mates then 2012 premiership teammates, but never played together again.
Johnson will tackle Collingwood at the SCG on Saturday night, having spent a total of 2136 days on the sidelines since his previous AFL game.
The 26-year-old underwent 12 knee operations during that stretch, including five reconstructions.
Shaw retired after the 2015 season, handing his No.2 guernsey to Johnson, but continued to work out of the SCG.
Shaw was coaching the club's reserves during Johnson's NEAFL comeback in 2017.
This weekend, he'll direct him again as defence coach.
The pair are close. Nobody at the Swans has offered Johnson more support than Shaw.
"I'm proud and I know he's going to do a great job," Shaw told AAP.
"When he came back in the NEAFL it was a huge deal and I was shit-scared.
"I just hoped he'd get through that game. I put him on the wing, told him to run up and down the wing and don't touch anybody.
"Now I am totally confident ... it's about him performing and making sure he understands he can play at this level again. I know the boys are up and about, ready to do the right thing by him."
Shaw has seen Johnson's highs and lows. For example, when the luckless backman was rushed from the SCG to hospital in 2015 because of one of his many knee infections.
"His knee just looked shocking. Like it was about to explode, a balloon ready to pop," Shaw said.
"His persistence has been unbelievable."
Johnson has long set himself the goal of playing a single game, rejecting medical advice to retire.
What comes next is anybody's guess, but Shaw suggested Johnson could become a regular member of the Swans' back six once again.
"He was our best player and probably the best player on the field during the first half of the 2012 grand final," Shaw said.
"Before he first did his knee in 2013, I had no doubt he'd be an All Australian."
