Memories: Alex Johnson celebrates the 2012 AFL grand final at the MCG. Credit:Justin McManus This positive attitude and "truly remarkable" resilience, as Jarrad McVeigh described it in a moving tribute at the Swans' season launch, makes Johnson one of the most admired players at the club. "You're dealt that hand and you have to deal with it. I just did, I suppose," Johnson says. "I'm the type of person who will not take no for an answer, I've never really thought 'No, it won't happen'. "It's always 'It's going to happen and if it doesn't then it doesn't'. At this point in time I've got my sights firmly set on the fact I will get back playing footy and I will get back and be the player I was and win another premiership one day."

When his teammates play in Brisbane on Sunday Johnson will not be there. He will be on the other side of the world doing what for many other 23-year-olds would be a rite of passage – a summer in Europe. For Johnson, it is a chance for him and his girlfriend Merysa, who has not seen him play a game in their 2½ years together, to get away from what must be a mundane and soul-destroying existence as an injured athlete. He'll squeeze in a visit to former teammate Tommy Walsh in Ireland and perhaps watch him play a game of Gaelic football. He'll catch up with friends in the UK, Spain and there's also a wedding in France. "It'll be a good five weeks away to have a good time and do something different from footy," Johnson says. Footy for Johnson is no longer being out on the big stage with his teammates, in front of adoring fans fulfilling a childhood dream. It has not been since March 2013 when he had his first knee reconstruction. The game that he grew up loving now constitutes training but "nothing football specific". He does not have an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee so he cannot run. Instead he is on the bike, cross training, swimming, boxing and lifting weights so that he has a sound fitness base when the next phase of rehab begins.

That will not be until August, at the earliest, when he returns from Europe, has scans on his knee before another reconstruction. Strangely, Johnson is looking forward to the surgery. "When you've been out for as long as I have it's the little things that really matter, little milestones you can look for," Johnson says. For the first time in a long time Johnson has good news on his knee. There were no signs of infection when he had a bone graft six months ago to fill the holes in his knee created by previous reconstructions. "That was a really good test to see if the infection would pop its head again and it never did. The knee responded really well to that, it never swelled up or looked inflamed or anything like that," Johnson says. "That was really positive and a step in the right direction, I suppose. At the moment the knee's never looked better."

Nobody knows when he will play again, not even Johnson himself. But in Johnson's mind there is no doubt he will return and be just as good as he was. For those who cannot remember how good that was, pull out a tape of the 2012 grand final where he performed like a hardened finals campaigner rather than a 20-year-old in his second year. It will be a long road back. Even if Johnson was to lace up next year he will have missed three seasons – an eternity in a constantly evolving game. The game he knew in 2012 will be a lot different in 2016. Johnson has always been a big footy watcher and is using his involvement with the reserves to keep him in touch with the modern trends. "You hear a lot of players who go on to coach afterwards they would have loved to have a year out midway through their career to have a look at the game from a different angle, that's what I've been able to do," Johnson says. "I have confidence in myself to use that knowledge and my footballing ability I showed in my first couple of years to put it all into practice for it to come into fruition when I eventually return." Again, it's not a matter of if but when he will play again.

"If anyone has any goals in life you always think about what it will be like achieving that goal," Johnson says. "Back when I got drafted my dream was to play my first game – that became a reality. My second year winning a premiership was something you dream of as well. This is a massive dream in my mind. That first game back will be great."