Rehab reflections is a monthly series that details the long journey undertaken while ensconced in rehab – with the highs, lows and milestones along the way all detailed.

Earlier this year, much-loved Magpies Reef McInnes, Oscar Steene and Jamie Elliott all went down with season-ending ACL injuries in the space of a month.

As one of the most feared injuries a footballer can face, having three players suffer the same fate in such a short timeframe was a cruel blow for the Pies.

But this is a resilient trio. The second instalment profiles McInnes, with the young Pie enduring his second ACL rehabilitation period in as many years.

Now months on from when his 2026 season was brought to a halt, this is the defender’s perspective on life as part of the rehab group ahead of the trio’s trip to Ireland in November.

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McInnes didn’t need the scan.

When you’ve already done an ACL, you know immediately when you’ve done another one and as he was helped off the KGM Centre playing field in late April, thoughts raced through the 23-year-old’s mind.

It was the fourth time he’d suited up in black and white in 2026, so he’d started to get back into the groove of playing each week, however this game was to hold perhaps even more significance than his first game back a few weeks earlier. After ticking off the final few stages of his recovery from the right ACL rupture he sustained in Round 2 of the 2025 AFL season, the Anzac Day eve clash with the Bombers was the first time he was set to play full game time and emerge from the rehab group since recovering from the year-long setback.

10 minutes in though, his comeback season was over and this time it was his left knee that had given way.

It hit him hard, as you’d expect, but the impact on those closest to him was arguably more difficult to deal with. With the déjà vu experience came an overwhelming sense of gratitude and sympathy for McInnes, who immediately thought of his family and friends despite his personal misfortune.

“I knew I did my knee straight away. We got the scan obviously and the docs weren't sure,” McInnes reflected.

“My mum was crying. Dad was distraught, grandparents too. They were all there watching because it was supposed to be my first full game back from my first knee. I was finally leaving rehab.

“Obviously, my whole family's upset. My partner Charlotte’s family is upset, my grandparents - they just don't get to see me play for another year.

“I told a few of my mates straight away, like my close ones and a few of them were funny they were like ‘mate, I saw you go down and I felt sick, hopefully you're okay’ and I was like, ‘yeah man, I'm good, but I’ve done my second knee’.

“It honestly does affect a lot of people, especially my parents. Even though it's happened to me, I just felt so bad for them because they have to look after me and they just love seeing me be happy, so it's hard on any parent seeing your kid go down.”

The family aspect of his injury is a theme McInnes always goes back to when reflecting on his journey so far. Having grown up in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, the former Oakleigh Charger lives at home with his ever-supporting family, meaning love and care has never been far away.

Few are as aware and as openly appreciative of the support at his disposal as McInnes though. Through journalling and his previous experience, he holds a pragmatic view to the situation he’s inured himself with. McInnes doesn’t need you to feel sorry for him and his best qualities are coming to the fore because of his circumstances, meaning there’s a sense of clarity with how he speaks about his past and future.

“You have to rely on others, which is a nice thing to have when your family's there. So in a sense, I'm probably the best person to do an ACL. I was with my family and have great support. People love me, so really, I'm very lucky,” he said.


“You don't want to be a burden, it just sucks being a burden. I'm so grateful for them and everything they do for me and they would do anything for me. As thankful as I am, they would happily do it, in any scenario.

“The first month, you don't really even think about footy being taken away. Everyday life's been taken away, so it's annoying in that sense.

“But as you progress, I'm fine now. Life's great. You don't get to play footy, but if that's the worst thing that happens, you're still living a bloody good life, so it's not too bad.”

Now a few months on, each day is a little easier.

While it’s come about through difficult circumstances, having close mates in Steene and Elliott join him in the rehab group has helped McInnes immeasurably.

He can’t reiterate enough how much he wishes it wasn’t the case, but the defender is making the best of a bad situation.

“As bad as it is, it's great having two others in the rehab journey with me. It helps us all get through it together,” he said.

“I can lean on them, they can lean on me and they're two of my great mates at the Club as it is, so to spend more time with them, it's actually been pretty funny and it's been a good laugh. 


"I really felt for them having gone through one and now another one. 


“It's never fun but from last year I had Harvey Harrison and he had me. He's one of my best mates and to have support through that was awesome for me so now this year having us three together just means the journey will be so much easier.”

And it’s not just the trio of players that are on the journey.

The Pies’ Head Rehabilitation Coordinator Victor Nguyen and physio Tom Purcell form a group of five that have sequestered themselves in the gym and treatment rooms over the back half of this year, with the environment fostering the smoothest healing process possible.

McInnes can’t speak highly enough of the pair, gushing with gratitude at what they’ve done so far to make their environment not only a safe one, but a fun one.

“We’ve got two of the best in the business looking after us. Tommy, he's one of the smartest blokes I've ever trained with and one of the most caring and then Vic, he is an absolute weapon and again, one of the most caring,” he said.

“Me, Bill, Steeney, Vic and Tommy have a little group chat and we communicate in that literally every day about like our times and the hours - those two are working some incredible hours just to get us boys up. So I'm so appreciative of those two.

“I love spending every day with our group of five. It's so fun, so enjoyable and it makes me not think about rehab. The banter and the jokes are pretty funny.

“Every session matters, so it's just been good having both Vic and Tommy there to support us and do everything they can to get us better each day.”

The group has something big on the horizon too. Alongside Ngyuen, the playing trio will travel to Ireland in early November where they’re set to connect with renowned physio and strength and condition coach Edna King.

King, who splits his time between Ireland and Qatar where he’s the Head Elite Performance and Development at Aspetar in Doha, has worked with some of the biggest players and teams in world sport including EPL powerhouse Liverpool and Rugy Union giants the All Blacks.

With extensive research and expertise specialising in ACLs, King will work with the trio in a new environment as they approach a critical juncture in their rehab, while providing further testing and new exercises to bring back to Australia.

Set for a rigorous full week at the facility, McInnes and his teammates will be in the best hands in the world, all while connecting further on the other side of the globe.

It’s a trip the 23-year-old has been looking forward to for a while, eager to tip into every aspect of knowledge and resource he can to fast-track his recovery.

“Us boys are going to Ireland to see a specialist in November which will be awesome to invest in ourselves and our bodies and make sure that we're coming back as best athletes as we can,” he said.

“I'm very grateful that I'm able to go there and hopefully learn off other people as well so it should be cool and it's given me a few months now to really come in every day and just get after with the other two boys.”

A few sessions with the Scottish Rugby Union side in Edinburgh ahead of their clash with the All Blacks on Saturday 7 November is also on the cards, as the triumvirate leave no stone unturned during their off-season sojourn.

And all the while, McInnes will keep doing it with a smile on his face, prepared to do whatever it takes as he tackles round two.