Luke Ball has taken the slow road back to full fitness in a bid to be ready for the 2013 AFL season. Source: Supplied
LUKE Ball and patience have never been the closest of companions.
But knee injuries - like the one Ball suffered in Round 3 this year, requiring a season-ending reconstruction - have a habit of teaching even the fiercest of competitors to sometimes temper their natural instincts for the greater good.
So when Collingwood's director of sports science David Buttifant told Ball yesterday he was being excused from the club's hike into the Utah mountains, the 28-year-old didn't argue back.
That's not just because snow started sweeping in towards Park City, where the Magpies are in the early stages of their high-altitude training camp.It's because Ball knows his pathway back to the AFL is something that shouldn't be rushed - even if he remains on track to play in Round 1, 2013.
"I've just been told that I probably won't be going on the hike," Ball said.
"It's just a precaution, and I didn't argue too much, to be honest.
"A handful of us will be staying back and I'm sure they will be flogging us. But I will be doing it with a smile on my face, thinking about the guys going up the mountain with their sleeping bags."
Ball looks - and feels - good, confident he is well placed in his quest to return to the game in good shape, just as his old mate Lenny Hayes did this year after a knee reconstruction in 2011.
He believes if he does the right thing in a patient return to the game that he missed so much this year, it might even extend his playing career.
"When you can't do the things you want to do, you realise how much you love it and what you are prepared to do to get it back," he said.
"Hopefully, this can add another year on the end (of his career)."
The ever meticulous Ball is leaving nothing to chance. But he won't be putting any extra pressure on himself until he has to.
"My knee is 100 per cent. I saw the surgeon (Julian Feller) the other day," he said.
"But the hamstring, where they took the graft, is just taking a little longer. It's just (a matter of) getting that up to full strength or stronger than it was before, which is taking a little longer.
"But the surgeon is happy with it all. It means I have to be patient, which I don't normally enjoy, but we will get there.
"There's no rush to the starting line. With a serious injury, there is a good chance if you push yourself too hard, you might have a little setback."
Ball is taking part in plenty of Collingwood's pre-season drills, but isn't yet going 100 per cent. He plans to crank that up in early January, to ensure he can have a few hit-outs in the NAB Cup.
"I am really enjoying training at the moment." he said.
"The knee feels great and in my head at this stage, I am looking towards Round 1 next year."
There was a brief flicker of hope that Ball might have made a unlikely return late in the 2012 season, but he says now that realistically it was never likely.
"The fact that Andy Krakouer and Brent Macaffer came back gave a bit of hope," he said.
"I looked at it, and thought I might be able to push it a bit to see if there might be a slight chance.
"But realistically, the docs and the surgeons say you are supposed to sit out six months. That was going to take me right up until Grand Final week. And I don't think the coach would have been silly enough to pick me having not played for 25 weeks, if we had made it.
"I probably got my head around it pretty early that I wasn't going to play (again in 2012)."
The decision to put a line through this year, which was a no-brainer for the club, given how crucial he remains into the future, allowed him to travel overseas for a few weeks and take in the Tour de France and the London Olympics.
The late July-early August trip could not have come at a better time for the hard-working midfielder, who took the chance to do some homework on other elite athletes, including some recovering from knee reconstructions.
"My head was about to explode here watching the boys," he said.
"We were playing pretty well at the time and winning, and heading into another finals campaign."
So it was good for me to get away for a little bit and it fell into a time when two of the world's greatest sporting events were on.
"I was able to get away and look at how some amazing athletes operate and realise how small we are down under and what a big world it is."
Ball has done some research on recent returns from serious knee injuries - here and abroad.
"I've been watching the NFL a fair bit and it might be a bit of a stretch, but one of the guys who is being talking about as a candidate for the MVP this year is Adrian Peterson," he said.
"He has come back from a knee reconstruction last year and has probably had the best season of his career."You look at those things when you are having doubts, and use that as inspiration."
It's the same with Ball's close mate and former St Kilda teammate Hayes, with whom he has spoken on a number of occasions.
"We've had a few chats, and we caught up at 'Rooey''s (Nick Riewoldt's) wedding," he said.
"Just talking to him, and watching him, shows it is possible. He is clearly an example to follow."
Ball said the club's switch from its long-time training camp Arizona to Utah was designed to keep the group fresh.
"Flagstaff (Arizona) was great. But it's been good to come to Utah. The accommodation and the facilities are first-rate.
"I remember speaking with Alisa Camplin (Winter Olympic gold medallist and Collingwood board member) before we came and she used to come here for training camps."
Ball said the recruitment of Quinten Lynch, Clinton Young, Jordan Russell and Ben Hudson as well as the highly-rated draftees was exciting.
"It feels like a a pretty young group to me, even though we have brought in some experienced players. There is just a really good mix."
For Ball, just being a part of it again - with the calendar not far away from turning over to 2013 - feels as invigorating as the chilly air in Park City.
