Timing is everything in netball, and Sophie Dunning appears to have timed her run to perfection.
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This weekend marks 12 months since the West Leagues Balance captain underwent knee surgery after tearing the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in her left leg.
The 27-year-old centre was back on court at the competition mid-point in June and played her first full game in the final round of the regular season last weekend.
Dunning proved pivotal as West claimed three successive Newcastle netball championships between 2017 and 2019 and will again be a key player when finals return to National Park on Saturday after a two-year absence due to COVID.
"When I did my ACL, I took the approach of, 'Well you can feel sorry for yourself or you can try to get back as soon as possible'," Dunning told the Newcastle Herald.
"I'm very competitive and I wanted to be back. I gave myself until July. We registered me in the hope that I'd be back at least by finals and I had to qualify as well, and it has worked out."
Getting back on court came after a lengthy rehabilitation process and proved "a good mental challenge".
She took a slow and steady approach, playing five minutes here and 10 minutes there.
"I didn't want to rush it but also needed to get on the court rather than just keep thinking about it," Dunning said. "It was good to get that full game out last week, to know that I can do it.
"The first game I was very nervous but we played against Uni and I've played rep and grew up with a lot of those girls, so it was a nice game to come back to.
"I felt so supported, not just by my team but everyone in that netball community. The amount of people who said, 'Well done. You're back. We're so happy for you.' I was a bit emotional actually."
Time on the sideline has also had its benefits.
"Sitting there watching has actually given me a bit more understanding of what we put [coach] Tracey [Baggs] through," Dunning said.
"It's made me relax a little bit on the court and not rush. It's been good to learn from Tracey on the sideline and I can transfer that onto the court now."
West finished fourth with 35 points and play third-placed Nova (37) in the minor semi-final on Saturday. They have won a game each in two exchanges this year.
"Since we joined the competition we'd been in that one and two spot and this year we've come in fourth so it's a bit unknown for us," Dunning said. "But we've chatted about it and said it really doesn't matter where you come, it's the one at the end that matters the most.
"We're excited to get our full-strength team out there because we really haven't had that yet."
Dunning expects "consistency" to prove Nova's greatest asset in "a tough test".
"They're probably the one team that week in, week out they have their 10 there," she said.
Minor premiers Souths (43) take on second-placed University of Newcastle (41) in the major semi-final.
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