Erin Inglis was a state hockey player for SA Under 16s when her knee kept dislocating. Three times. In November 2024, she had surgery to repair her patella tendon and move the bone to stop it happening again. Now she’s nine months into rehab, and she talks honestly about what that’s been like.

This conversation covers the physical side of losing 90% of your quad strength and watching your knee shake doing exercises that used to be easy. It gets into the mental battle of finding motivation when you’re on pain meds and everything hurts. And it touches on what helped Erin keep going: her family, her gym buddy, and messages from teammates saying they miss her.

Erin’s a goalkeeper, and her club needs her. She’s planning to play two teams next year and try out for state again if she gets the chance. But right now, she’s focused on getting through the rehab, one physio session at a time.

Key insights:

• Knee surgery rehab isn’t just about the ACL. There are different injuries that need different approaches, but the mental and physical struggles are similar.
• Losing strength is hard to see. When exercises you could do easily before surgery now make your knee shake, it messes with your head.
• Your support team matters. Family reminding you of the end goal, a gym buddy who shows up, and mates messaging you from training all make a difference.
• Recovery timelines are real. Six to twelve months for knee injuries means you need to stay patient, even when setbacks happen.
• Pain and motivation are connected. It’s harder to stay motivated when you’re in pain, but as healing happens, the mental side gets easier too.

If you’re recovering from knee surgery, or you’re supporting someone who is, this episode shows you’re not alone in finding it hard.

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Hamish is a strength and conditioning coach at SASI (South Australian Sports Institute) who wrote AJ’s ACL rehab program. This conversation breaks down what actually goes into building a recovery program, from the first phase focused on getting normal range of motion back, through to sports-specific movements and running.

Hamish explains why ACL rehab is so different from regular strength training, how he decides when you’re ready to progress to the next phase, and why some people recover in nine months while others take two and a half years. He talks about metrics like the 85% strength ratio between your injured and healthy leg, the anti-gravity treadmill for getting back to running, and why patience matters more than anything else.

The conversation covers what’s standardised in ACL programs versus what gets customised for each athlete, how to know when you’re pushing too hard, and why so many people re-injure themselves by rushing back to sport. If you’re in ACL rehab or supporting someone who is, this episode gives you the practical knowledge you need about what’s actually happening in your program and why.

Key insights:

• ACL rehab has three main phases: range of motion, strength building, and sports-specific movements. Each phase has specific goals before you progress.
• Progression isn’t guesswork. Coaches use metrics like the 85% strength ratio between your injured and healthy legs to know when you’re ready for more complex exercises.
• Every ACL rehab is different. Some people recover smoothly in nine months. Others face complications that stretch recovery to years.
• The anti-gravity treadmill lets you start running again at reduced body weight, building volume without overloading your healing knee.
• Patience is everything. Research shows high re-injury rates, often because people rush back before they’re ready. Long-term health matters more than the next game.

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Lucinda Silvestri is an Australian lacrosse player who won MVP at senior national champs after recovering from her first ACL. Five months after returning to play, she did her second ACL in the grand final. This conversation is about what it’s like to go through ACL recovery twice and how your mindset changes when you already know you can get back.

Lucinda talks about the first ACL happening 30 seconds into a grand final, trying to keep playing, and then her knee completely giving way. She describes the setbacks during rehab, the weeks where nothing seemed to improve, and how her support team kept her accountable when motivation disappeared. The second time around, she had confidence from knowing her first knee felt good again, but watching teammates go to Aussie camps while she was sidelined was still hard.

This episode covers the mental challenge of staying motivated through slow progress, the importance of having people who understand the physical rehab process, and why trust in the process matters more the second time. If you’re facing a second injury or wondering whether you’ll ever feel the same again, Lucinda’s experience shows what’s possible.

Key insights:

• Going through ACL recovery a second time is different because you have proof you can get back. The doubts aren’t as strong when one knee already feels solid.
• Slow progress is normal. Some weeks you work on something constantly and it doesn’t improve. Then breakthrough moments come randomly.
• Support team accountability matters. Having scheduled sessions with coaches meant Lucinda couldn’t bail when motivation dropped.
• Watching teammates continue playing and getting opportunities you’d be part of is one of the hardest mental challenges. You want to be happy for them but you’re also stuck on the sidelines.
• Small sports create opportunities. Lacrosse isn’t as competitive as massive sports, so you get exposure to elite environments earlier, which helps with motivation during recovery.

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