Down at Sorrento, on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, they call him the "ACL survivor".
James Hallahan, playing coach of the Sorrento Sharks, won a flag with a ruptured ACL and is taking a keen interest in Gryan Miers' unprecedented push to play on in the AFL.
Miers has a stock, standard ACL rupture, which would routinely require surgery, but has played the past two games for the Cats.
"It's incredible what Miers is doing. It gives you more confidence that there are more ways than going under the knife," Hallahan told Zero Hanger.
Hallahan ruptured his ACL in June, 2019, in pretty much a textbook incident.
"I ran over a ground ball, doubled back, planted right foot ... it just popped," Hallahan said.
A scan revealed a ruptured ACL, without damage to surrounding ligaments.
"I spoke to four of five doctors ... the message was all the same ... surgery, surgery, surgery," Hallahan said.
"I booked in for surgery with Julian Feller and somebody else, and cancelled them both."
Hallahan stopped, pivoted and thought about what was at stake.
His brother Mitch, a former Gold Coast and Hawthorn player in the AFL, was back at Sorrento, and the team was on top of the ladder.
"I thought if there's ever a chance to win a flag with Mitch, it's this year," Hallahan said.
Hallahan sought another opinion, visiting Carlton physio Craig Christie, and the rest is history.
"He said he could get me back for the finals, but added 'you'll need to do a hell of a lot of work'," Hallahan said.
"He told me I'd need to be a professional athlete for the next eight to nine weeks and get through without a hiccup.
"I did a lot of strengthening of the knee, hips and being able to get the knee under load again.
"I was running on day 15, changing direction on days 28-30."
Hallahan returned to footy on the ninth week (the final home and away game) and went on to win a flag.
He played with minimal strapping and achieved his dream of playing in a flag with Mitch.
Finally, in 2022, he had the ACL repaired after suffering an unrelated meniscus injury.
"No regrets," Hallahan said.
"It was pretty cool to go through it."
