GROUNDBREAKING surgery last October has given Adelaide's Daniel Talia a chance to flourish this season, after Achilles tendonitis cut him down in 2011.
Talia's operation, believed to be an Australian first, has proved an outstanding success and has allowed the 20-year-old to set himself up for what he hopes will be a big year.
It's a luxury he couldn't enjoy 12 months ago, such was the pain in his foot heading into and during the 2011 season.
"For the first half [of the season] I wasn’t able to manage it and wasn't able to push through it," Talia said.
"I was only training maybe once or twice a week, whereas this week I'm able to run the day after a game and just do those little things to get your body right to play."
Talia missed the first 14 rounds last year because of the affliction and, despite playing nine of the last 10 games, the problem kept getting worse.
He sought the help of an international surgeon last October and said he'd been pain-free ever since.
"Not many blokes in Australia have had it done, I think I might have been the first," he said.
"It's a massive difference to be on a foot you can run around on without pain and you get a lot of confidence in that.
"You're not going out there asking 'is my foot going to get through this?' You just go out there more focused on your job and I think that's helped a lot this year."
Taken with pick No.13 at the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, the young defender said he expected to play an important role in Adelaide's defence in 2012 and rejected the notion that the Crows' backline was too inexperienced.
"We've brought Brent Reilly back there and now with Ben Rutten back, as well as Michael Doughty, 'Stiffy' Johncock," Talia said.
"I'm the least experienced and so if the boys can get me up to scratch, we're a pretty seasoned unit back there."
Talia said he was relishing life under new coach Brenton Sanderson who handled Geelong's defence from 2007-2011.
Much has been made of Adelaide's attack so far in 2012, with Taylor Walker and Kurt Tippett arguably the form combination of the league.
But the side's defence also held strong throughout the NAB Cup and kept Gold Coast to just 68 point last Saturday.
While the signs are good, Talia insisted the side couldn't get ahead of itself.
"We've become a lot more of a contested side and focused on that side of things so I think the boys are just really relishing a contest," he said.
"It's easy to say that we've clicked because we've been winning, but hopefully our game stands up when we play some better teams in the weeks to come."
Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
Daniel Talia is a $261,100 defender in Toyota AFL Dream Team. Register your team here.
