When Tim Mohr suffered his second ruptured ACL in the space of nine months, there was only one thing on his mind.

But the big defender, affectionately nicknamed Bear, has put the disappointment behind him and is ready to tackle his recovery and come back bigger and better than ever in 2016. 

The Tasmanian, who had played 43 games for the GIANTS since arriving at the club as a mature-aged recruit in 2011, originally tore his ACL in round 18 last year.

After eight months of arduous rehabilitation, he returned to the field for the UWS GIANTS in early April and was playing his sixth NEAFL game for the year when he twisted awkwardly.

“If I’d done it on my right leg, it would have happened on my right leg. It was just really unlucky in the end,” the 26-year-old said.

“My knee was as strong as it could ever have been, I had nothing in my head saying I couldn’t do it.

“I knew as soon as I did it, I felt it pop and knew straight away that it’d happened again.”

Cutting a forlorn figure at Spotless Stadium, knowing another season was over, Mohr had just one request.

“David Joyce, our sports science dude, was like ‘Is there anything I can do for you?'

“I was like, just get my a bloody beer,” he joked.

But the disappointment quickly subsided as he prepared to begin his recovery, knowing exactly what he was in for this time.

“It was pretty hard to take at the time when I first did it,” he said.

“It’s my second one ... I know what to expect and I’m ready to go, ready to jump back into another recovery.

“What can you do?”

Mohr had a traditional knee reconstruction last week, forgoing LARS as an alternative because he wanted to think about life after football.

“I woke up and there was a bit of swelling in the knee as you’d expect but I was definitely feeling a lot better than I did after my first one for sure,” Mohr said.

“I reckon I can get my knee better than what I had it the first time, I know what I need to do now.”

When Mohr originally began his recovery from his first knee injury, he was joined in the rehab group by forward Jonny Patton who ruptured his ACL for the second time three rounds after Mohr last year. 

The pair have formed a tight bond and while Mohr is typically understated, he said he has appreciated the support from teammates, coaches, friends and family. 

“Jonny Patton helps a lot because he’s obviously going through his second,” he said.

“I’m not much on everyone getting around me, I like to keep to myself a bit but it’s always good getting text messages from players and coaching staff and whatnot.

“Lots of people sent me texts ... Sorry if I didn’t reply to your text but I didn’t reply to anyones.”

A week after his successful surgery and sporting an interesting new look, Mohr is counting down the days until he can get back on the footy field. 

“I’m going to keep shaving the head and I’m just going to grow the beard until I get back out there playing,” he said.

“Another 10 months of growth on the beard and we’ll see how it’s looking.”