When Gary Rohan planted his first step on the Alter-G treadmill last Monday, his instincts were telling him ‘no’.

After six months on the sidelines following the broken leg he suffered in round four, last week marked a significant milestone for the young Swan, who planted his right foot to run for the first time since April.

While it was only a small step, Rohan’s first run was a giant leap forward for the 21-year-old’s confidence levels.

“The first running session felt a bit weird. My mind was telling me that I shouldn’t be running because I’ve been out for so long but my confidence is coming back pretty well,” Rohan told sydneyswans.com.au.

“I have started running now on the Alter-G and I do that three times a week.

“It’s a bit different to a normal treadmill because it takes my body weight, so I’m running at 70 per cent of my body weight which is good, but it feels like you’re running on the moon!

“Overall, I’m feeling more confident with my leg and I’m doing more weights as well. I feel bigger than last year, so that’s where I’m at so far.”

While most of the Swans playing group are enjoying their annual break, Rohan returned to the club after a short three-week holiday, alongside fellow youngsters Tom Mitchell and Alex Brown.

Rohan returned home to Cobden during his break, and also made a trip over to Geraldton, Western Australia to visit family and friends before returning to the club to focus on his recovery.

“I’m quite excited to be taking the next step,” he said

“It really is better than walking around or sitting on the couch or doing that sort of stuff. It feels like I’m actually doing something and getting fitter.

“In the three weeks I was away I was still doing my calf raises, weights and doing exercises on my leg so it was a break from the club, but it wasn’t’ a break from training for me.”

The last few months have been especially tough on Rohan, who had to sit in the grandstand while his team mates celebrated premiership glory.

Rohan admitted that he went through some ‘pretty tough times’ in the finals series, but was able to pull through to support his team mates on that last Saturday in September.

“I was quite shattered that I wasn’t there but I was very excited for the boys during the season and what I felt Grand Final day is going to drive me next year, so I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

“Rhyce Shaw, my mentor, told me that I had to keep positive as much as I could and to keep around the boys during the finals campaign.

“I made sure I kept the boys up by buzzing around as I usually do.”

Shaw did his best to keep Rohan involved around the club, and even organised a highlight reel of the Swans’ number 16 in action.

Rohan said the video was a reminder that he still has plenty of football left in him, even after this year’s setback.

“The video was pretty funny and I went home and showed my mum and family and they were pretty happy about it,” he said.

“It showed my 23 games and what I’ve done in those 23 games, and it was quite exciting.

“I haven’t played my best football yet, which I think is even more exciting.”

Outside of the club, Rohan has also received plenty of encouragement from current and former AFL players, including Brisbane coach Michael Voss, former Richmond captain Chris Newman and Fremantle midfielder Michael Barlow.

“I’ve been talking to Micky Barlow a fair bit about how he got over his injury. I’m doing my program in a similar kind of way,” Rohan said.

“Everyone else who has done their leg has called me up and given me good advice over the journey.

“All of these boys have done similar injuries and they are some of the stars of AFL and I know I can come back and do the same.

“Hopefully I can make the side better when I come back.”

Sydney Swans physiotherapist Matt Cameron said Rohan has made plenty of progress in the last six months, and was particularly impressed with his efforts during the off season.

“He’s been working pretty hard in the off-season, which has really been his pre-season,” Cameron said.

“We let him go home but he’s been working hard on his muscle strength in his legs and we’re really happy with the way his muscles have improved and his strength has improved since we all finished up six weeks ago.”

Cameron added that the use of the Alter-G Trainer Pro Treadmill has assisted in speeding up Rohan’s transition from walking to jogging.

“On the Alter-G he’s able to run with no limp at all, which is great, because without that he wouldn’t be able to run,” he said.

“He wouldn’t be able to run on the grass because he’d need a certain amount of strength to do that and he wouldn’t have (the strength) yet.

“We’re able to get started now and we can look through the bag at the way his muscles are working and we can see that his calves are working at the right time, so we’re happy with that.”

But for now, a time or date on when Rohan may return to the Swans side has not been set.

After many months of a slow and often frustrating recovery process, Rohan said he will return to the field ‘when the time is right’.

“I haven’t had any indication of when I can run outside yet,” he said.

“I think we’re going to take it step-by-step and when I’m ready to get out there, I’ll then go back to running on my normal body weight.”

Cameron agreed that there was no set date for Rohan to make his return, but said the Swans medical team were pleased with the process to date.

“We’re really happy with the fracture and we’re really happy with his strength and we couldn’t be happier with the way it is now, but we’ve got to get from 70 per cent to outside and then to get to Gary being fit again to be a footballer,” he said.

“(When he’ll be back) is a common question and Gary asks it and so does everyone else but we’re not working backwards from a point because that’s not going to work.

“It’s really difficult right now to say when he’s going to return and in fact it’s not all that helpful if it’s too ambitious, so at the moment we want him to play next year and we’re hoping it’s going to be as early as possible, but we’re not going to compromise what we do this week and next week in order to rush him to meet a target.”