It was a seemingly innocuous sore foot that Johnson first noticed when he went for a run in September last year. He didn’t take much notice of it at the time but when full training resumed he knew something was seriously wrong His foot ""blew up"" and he was soon under the surgeon’s knife. Johnson had surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his left foot - basically a reconstruction of the joint between the second and third toes.
""For the first four weeks I couldn’t do a thing, then I had to wear a boot for four weeks and not put any weight on the foot,"" Johnson said.
Six weeks of swimming and bike riding followed. Then came the slow running and 10 weeks later he is almost back to playing footy.
""I feel really good. I think I have been able to work pretty hard so I think my fitness base is there,"" he said. ""If I had had this injury at the beginning of my career, I don’t think I would have known how to get my body to the right level. It’s now just a matter of getting match fit.
Johnson is expected to play in the Bombers next NAB challenge match in Bendigo on March 10.
""I am hoping to play 60 minutes in that game, whether that is the first ten minutes of the quarter has to be determined still,"" he said. ""It probably wont be until about round 4 or 5 that I am back to full match fitness and have my touch and timing back.
It hasn’t all been bad news, according to Johnson.
""My mind set when I got back to training was a little bit flat and I think I needed it to get me motivated and I think it was a blessing in disguise to get it done"" he said. ""I have been pretty lucky in the last five or six pre-seasons where I haven’t missed a beat and I was probably going through the motions in the first couple of weeks and wasn’t enjoying it. But when I had the operation it was a chance to get my head right and focus on something.""
