THE biggest battle Mitch Hallahan faces this year is not retaining his place in the Suns midfield, but beating the inner demons that say he will never return to full health.

Hallahan has built his career around his strength and willingness to win a contested ball and provide the platform for the likes of Suns skipper Gary Ablett to show their class.

But a bone growth in his arm, caused by a cork suffered in a lead-up game last year, made life difficult for the 23-year-old in his 12 AFL games.

Hallahan was forced to wait until the growth calcified before undergoing surgery in November. And despite ticking all the boxes with his rehabilitation, Hallahan revealed that he was yet to heal mentally.

“I guess in the back of my mind now I’m saying, ‘is it going to get to that point again?’,” he said.

“Am I going to be able to play the brand of footy that I enjoy playing?

“It’s been fine for the last three months … now it is about getting some confidence back in my body to be able to perform the way I want to and beating those mental demons that crept in.”

With football on the backburner Hallahan said he found a healthy distraction through his dog Floyd and by focusing on his clothing label, Alednam, that he created last year with brother James.

The Victorian revealed he first suffered the injury during the NAB Challenge preseason but managed to play through the increasing pain before it eventually crippled him following the Round 16 loss to GWS in July.

“It just got to a point where I wasn’t able to perform my role for the team,” Hallahan said.

“I’d cop a knock on it and it would just render me useless so it was no good being out there.”

Hallahan took part in contact work for the first time this week in game simulations in another positive step forward.

He was still able to keep running throughout the rehabilitation process, increasing his endurance to new levels and stripping 2kg from his frame while retaining his strength.

“My strength is probably the cornerstone of my game and my ability to win those contested balls,” Hallahan said.

Hallahan was recruited by the Suns ahead of the 2015 season to take pressure off the likes of midfield quartet Ablett, David Swallow, Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Meara.

But he carried the load while all four were out injured last year before his own lay-off and after a taste of consistent AFL football Hallahan doesn’t want to give up his spot freely.