Caleb Daniel didn't have long to soak up the Western Bulldogs' premiership triumph, the busy midfielder undergoing shoulder surgery just days after the drought-breaking win.
With celebrations still in full swing, Daniel went in for a shoulder reconstruction that will have him on a modified pre-season program until mid-January.
"We had to manage it for a fair portion of the season, but it didn't give me too many issues," Daniel told AAP.
"It was all just down to a bit of wear and tear. There were a couple of little incidents, but nothing too bad.
"I've still got some rehab to go, I'm about seven-and-a-half weeks in, but I'm doing all of the running. It's coming along well.
"I'm lucky in the sense that I don't have to just sit on the bike or anything like that ... I can do all of the running so I think that will definitely help."
Despite the nagging issue, Daniel still managed 24 of a possible 26 games in a breakout season in which he finished second to Sydney's Callum Mills in the AFL's Rising Star award.
The 20-year-old spent a large portion of his off-season in home town Adelaide where the historic grand final win over Sydney was a hot topic of discussion with family and friends.
But he says the enormity of winning the club's second premiership flag after a 62-year wait only really hit home when he returned this week to Whitten Oval.
"I don't think I really thought about it too much until we got back into the swing of things," he said.
"It feels like it's almost coming to life more now that we're back together for pre-season.
"As much as we'll get flogged by the coaches, (the premiership win) definitely makes pre-season a lot more enjoyable."
The first-to-fourth-year Bulldogs will be joined by the rest of the squad next week but, even at this early stage, Daniel can already sense one grand final win won't be enough to satisfy the group.
"We're going to work as hard, if not harder, than we did last year," he said.
"We don't know what the future holds but we'll be working as hard as we possibly can to achieve that again.
"There's no better feeling than holding that cup up ... it was amazing."
