TO SAY Ryan Schoenmakers is excited for season 2014 would be an understatement.

He has been preparing for next season for eight months and by the time it finally reaches Round 1, it will have been almost a year in the making.

The Hawks’ emerging defender ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in Round 4 this year and subsequently missed the remainder of the season.

It meant that while his teammates were on an exciting journey towards what would ultimately be a premiership, he was in the gym, rehabilitating his reconstructed knee.

For the most part he was alone as he arrived at the Club early to see the rehabilitation staff who would oversee his gym program.

Then, he could only watch from level one of the Ricoh Centre as his teammates hit the track in preparation for their next game.

“It does test your resilience as a person – it is lonely in rehab, getting up in the morning and training by yourself because you can’t do all the skills with your teammates,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

It’s a lonely time for any player who suffers a season-ending injury and one that can be debilitating.

But, at 23 years of age and with his entire career ahead of him, Schoenmakers was determined not to let the mental struggle affect him long-term.

“It tests your character and how you respond,” he said.

“(But) every athlete is going to have a setback in their career so it’s more about how you come back from that that really determines how you are as a player and a person.”

Rather than wallow in his own misfortune, Schoenmakers decided instead to treat season 2013 as preparation for the next premiership season that would eventually roll around.

So, he hit the gym and the weights to add size to his 195cm and 93kg body, determined to no longer be the undersized key defender many described him as in 2012.

“I’ve had a bit of time in the gym over the course of the season, which was a focus for me and hopefully that will help me out next year,” he said.

“I’ve done a lot of work – I’ve done plenty with the rehab coordinator so having that work behind me now is really good.”

But, he missed football more than he could have imagined.

So as pre-season begins, Schoenmakers is undoubtedly one of the most excited Hawks on the track.

“It’s surprising how much missing a season of footy changes your attitude towards it,” he said.

“It’s unbelievable the way you see all the boys train and how much you want to get out there and even get involved in all the skills drills.

“Even with pre-season, not all the boys would love it because of the work rate and things like that but I’ve been so keen in the mornings, even just getting up I can’t wait to get to training and kick the footy.”

A happy Ryan Schoenmakers with footy in hand at a Hawthorn pre-season training session this November.

Schoenmakers has made the trip to South Africa with his teammates for pre-season camp and he couldn’t be happier.

He can’t hide his passion and for that matter his emotions as a whole for the game – the game in which circumstances beyond his control took away from him in 2013.

“It makes you hungrier,” he said.

“When you’re playing game after game you don’t realise what it’s like until you miss it for a year, that’s when you really understand what it means to play footy and how much I missed it.”