He likens the sound to a champagne cork bursting out of bottle, but there was no Moët flowing when Hugh Goddard fell to the turf at Adelaide Oval last month. Instead, his second season in the AFL was brought to a premature end after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in an innocuous incident against Adelaide.

The highly regarded key defender had surgery to repair his Achilles in the days after the incident and is now in the early stages of his rehabilitation. He’s already graduated from two crutches to one and will next week throw the crutches away all together, replacing the aid with a Jay Gatsby style cane. Small steps, literally, but progress.

Four weeks have passed since the 2014 first-round pick sustain the injury in the Saints Round 11 loss to the Crows. And while Goddard admits it’s been bitterly disappointing, particularly given the fact he was forced to wait to add to his 2015 game tally of eight, he knows injuries are part and parcel of this game.

 “It’s been a pretty full on last four weeks,” Goddard told saints.com.au in his first interview since his season came to a devastating end at Adelaide Oval on June 5.

“The incident in itself was a pretty tough one to take on board. It happened in a millisecond, I just remember from the moment trailing in on (Adelaide forward Josh) Jenkins and just changing direction and it’s literally like a champagne cork popping and you hear stories about people going through similar instances, so I sort of knew straight away.

“It was pretty hard to take at the time. I knew it was a season ending injury and I’d done all the hard work and really pushed to get back into the team and it was taken away from me. But that’s footy.

“I’ve had such good support, and really trying to keep a positive mindset towards my footy and getting back and coming back better than what I was.”

At 19, Goddard has plenty of time ahead of him. While half a year out of the game and a major injury is a setback, the Melbourne Grammar product is confident of not only returning, but thriving when he comes back.

“I’m only young so I’ve got a lot of footy ahead. I’ve still got to prove myself as a football player. I still believe I’ve got my best football to come.

“I’m really going to use this year to mature my body, I’ve got a lot of time in the gym (ahead of me), so I’ve just been focusing on that and improving my fitness.

“I’m doing a lot of visualisation, seeing myself walking again, seeing myself training and then seeing myself getting back to playing the best footy I can play.”

In the days and weeks since the injury, star counterparts and fellow Achilles victims four-time premiership Hawk Jarryd Roughead and North Melbourne Captain Andrew Swallow, have reached out to Goddard.

 “Both Jarryd Roughead and Andrew Swallow are the last two guys to do it in the AFL – it’s a pretty rare injury. They’ve both been really supportive of me,” Goddard said.

“Every week he’s [Roughead] texting me and checking in to see how I’m going, sending photos of when he did it and all this kind of stuff. To think what he’s going through, I’m so appreciative of all the time he’s been taking.

“They’ve both been unbelievable. They’re putting into perspective what actually does happen and the similarities between the instances, giving me little goals to set.”

For quite a long time now, football has been the focal point of Goddard’s life. Firstly, all he wanted to do was get drafted. Since being selected at pick No. 21, football has been his job. With that suddenly gone, at least for the time being, Goddard has turned his eye to pursuits away from the game in attempt to keep his mind occupied.  

“I think that’s one of the main bits of advice all the boys have given me, to really try and use this time to broaden my horizons outside of footy,” he said.

“Last year I did a real estate course and this year I’m doing a building construction course which goes into property management. I’m really interested in that.

“I’ve been doing a bit of that all year so it’s been good that I’ve been able to spend a bit more time and study a bit harder.”