As published in the 23 July 2014 edition of the Star Weekly, below is an installment of a regular player guest column, this week penned by Daniel Pearce.

As a footballer, there will always be moments when your footy career will flash before you. And even though I’m still forging my career, my most recent injury had the sort of pain that made me think I was in trouble. It was my knee, again.

How you feel immediately you are injured is often an over-reaction and club medicos and staff soon put your mind at ease.

Then follows a series of scans, doctors’ appointments and an anxious wait to confirm the extent of what has happened – and the journey of rehabilitation begins.

When you receive the news that you’ll miss some football, it’s a shock at the start. But as you go through the weeks, you come to the realisation that the people you’re working with – physios, fitness staff, gym coaches and others – are all working together to help you recover and offer support to get over the next hurdle.

It’s not as dark a place as it may seem. You feel supported, and your extended Bulldogs family is with you every step of the way.

There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. All the 7am swimming sessions, boxing and grinder circuits pass. Then the focus returns to the goal of playing the game we all love.

You actually find another layer of gratitude that you are playing this great game. It reminds you not take the job for granted.

We all love this game and we play it knowing that some form of injury is an inevitable part of the job description.

But there’s no place I’d rather be than at the Kennel with my teammates and staff .?.?. they’re my extended family.