BACK ON TRACK: West Coast's Mark Nicoski is hoping for better things next season after injury cruelled his 2012 campaign. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: PerthNow
MARK Nicoski doesn't feel sorry for himself and he doesn't want you to, either.
He might be challenging Beau Waters and Sam Butler for the title of unluckiest Eagle, but Nicoski is the first to see a silver lining to his horror 2012.
Coming off his best season in the AFL in 2011, the West Coast veteran tore his left hamstring from the bone in the NAB Cup Grand Final in March.
The thought of a comeback ahead of the finals initially drove his recovery, before a further tear in July ensured his entire season would be lost.
Having battled long-term injuries throughout his career, including one that cost him a place in the 2006 premiership side, Nicoski might have been entitled to think his rotten run was over, once he was re-cast as a forward, to great effect.
"Life's really good with timing: it tends to challenge you when you least expect it," he said.
"I thought I'd gone through, in terms of football, enough challenges but there was another one left in store."
The past nine months instead became a personal journey that included a mid-season sabbatical to his mother's homeland of Croatia and a realisation he could feel the warmth of those closest to him most acutely when life was at its toughest.
"It's funny, you know, through the difficult times of your life or career, you tend to find out who those people are that are genuinely concerned and genuinely worried about your wellbeing," he said.
"Some people have been absolutely amazing. So I do feel really lucky. It's made my character a lot stronger than what it could have been."
Nicoski is especially grateful to club CEO Trevor Nisbett and coach John Worsfold for their assurances he was still a required player, along with fitness coach Warren Kofoed and physiotherapist Mark Finucane.
It was the support of a fellow player Adam Selwood he found most touching.
The pair arrived at the club together a decade ago. Nicoski's misfortune is illustrated by the fact Selwood's tally of 178 games, compared with his 112, is equivalent to playing three more seasons of football.
"He has really been a true friend," Nicoski said. "He's someone that was in hospital every time visiting me.
"We came into the system at the same time, so we've got a bit of a bond like that. (But) I saw an element of loyalty and friendship in him that I didn't particularly realise we had at this stage."
Nicoski needed surgery three times following his original hamstring tear.
Having powered through a rehabilitation program he began in mid-August, he is now looking forward to joining the main training group after Christmas and is even eying Round 1 of the NAB Cup in mid-February.
Nicoski, the last player to leave the track after Friday's session at McGillivray Oval, is hopeful of recapturing his 2011 form next season.
At 29, Nicoski knows he is closer to the end than the beginning.
After being handed another one-year contract, thinking about retirement is superfluous, anyway.
"You just live in the moment," he said. "I don't think anybody likes to think about that.
"But I've always thought if you take care of what you can control, then the things outside that circle will work out okay.
"I'm a realist like anyone and I realise I can't play football till I'm 35 which I would love to but at this point it's just a step by step process and I'm pretty excited about 2013."
The most obvious question left to ask involved the possibility of Nicoski finally tasting premiership glory, after he was forced to watch on in 2006.
"I'm hanging out for the fairytale, don't worry," he said.
"I don't need it, but I want it.
"That fairytale's driving me and that's what I hang on to."
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