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<\/p>\nA gruelling cycle of ice packs, rehab, crutches and exercises followed, with Molloy saying she did everything in her power to be back as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way [Lions AFL co-captain] Lachie Neale went about the week for the grand final \u2013 I did that for a whole 10 months to get back my knee,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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The Sydney Swans star did everything in her power to recover from an ACL injury. Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent hours and hours in [the] recovery centre, just to control everything I could to get up for round one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molloy met every physio milestone and exceeded her surgeon\u2019s expectations, returning to play a warm-up match against the Brisbane Lions one month ahead of schedule. But ahead of the first match against Richmond on August 15, her stomach in knots with a mix of nervous butterflies and worries.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t want to embarrass the team, and I didn\u2019t want to embarrass me,\u201d she said. \u201cI spoke with my psych, I spoke with Scotty [Gowans] who said \u2018mate, I\u2019m not expecting you to set the world on fire\u2019, so that gave me reassurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Molloy, the nerves stemmed from an understandable fear of the recurrence rate of knee injuries, and a lingering worry she might get hurt again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve watched athletes come back previous years from an ACL, and then they end up doing it in their first game back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the moment the ball went up and the game started playing, I think everything just left me. I hit a contest hard. I think I hit the ground. I was like, \u2018All right, I\u2019m back.\u2019 I think since then, I haven\u2019t thought once about my knee.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molloy credits pre-season chats with former basketball and AFLW great Erin Phillips in helping her overcome her worries around injury and integrate back into playing footy.<\/p>\n
Phillips suffered a second heartbreaking ACL rupture in the 2019 AFLW grand final and received a standing ovation from the 50,000-strong crowd at Adelaide Oval as she was taken off the field on a stretcher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to chat to her [Phillips] about coming back from an ACL and the emotions and the feelings and everything that you go through. When do you start feeling yourself again?\u201d Molloy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cErin just helps in just kind of staying present … a problem shared is a problem halved. So just even talking to someone like her about feelings, it can kind of just bring you this bit of internal peace, knowing that there are others that have felt similar ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
After their emphatic win over Richmond in August, Sydney\u2019s win streak continued with three consecutive victories and Molloy atop the league\u2019s goal kicking table.<\/p>\n
In an era of North Melbourne dominance, Sydney started to emerge as worthy opponents and potential spoilers for the undefeated reigning premiers. But the red-hot Swans hit an unexpected snag in round five.<\/p>\n
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Molloy (right) and Collingwood\u2019s Ruby Schleicher ahead of the round five clash. Credit: Jason South <\/p>\n
Collingwood \u2013 last year\u2019s wooden spooners \u2013 kept the Swans goalless for three quarters<\/a> and soured their perfect start to the season with a shock 26-point win. Sydney went on to lose their next two matches, albeit by small margins.<\/p>\n Molloy conceded the maturity of the Swans\u2019 playing group was still growing and said the team did not know the best way to handle \u201cbeing the hunted\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess we hadn\u2019t been in that position before, so didn\u2019t know how to best deal with it, but it is an incredible learning position to be in, and we kind of earned the right to be in position,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to know how to win, and you need to know how to lose, and I think that\u2019s what we\u2019re kind of figuring out now.\u201d<\/p>\n The Swans face North for the first time this season on Sunday in Launceston, an exciting prospect Molloy said the team is ready for.<\/p>\n The co-captain is full of praise for her team, heralding the batch of young talent that is \u201cchanging the face of W\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThese athletes are incredible, and their talent is undeniable, but it\u2019s because of the people that invested into women\u2019s football in the very beginning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n