But the Charles Sturt University coach admitted the injury is a serious setback ahead of his return to regular football.

A dejected Noonan, who injured his left ankle after going up for a mark during an AFL 9s game early this week, won’t be running again until the end of January. 

“I’m still keen to get on the paddock, it’s just a pretty big setback, that’s all,” Noonan said from hospital.

“It’s one I’m pretty accustomed to. It’s not like I’m not used to getting injured. I’ve just got to deal with it and start getting into my rehab.”

Noonan had a knee reconstruction four years ago and has also battled through eye socket, cheek, hand and wrist fractures. 

The early prognosis is no break in the ankle and Noonan is hopeful of avoiding surgery. But the ligament damage is significant. He said their once-a-week pre-Christmas training will begin next week without him. 

“It’s disappointing because I was tracking alright, I was feeling pretty fit, and now it’s going to be 10 weeks before I can run again,” Noonan said.

“It knocks me back a fair bit with my preparation but I’ll try to do some stuff off my legs, some cardio work, and hopefully when I do come back (to running) I’m not too far behind everyone.

“But if I’m not right to go (next year), I’m not right to go. That’s football I guess.

“My focus is on getting the players ready. Not me. I’m just one person. The boys are more important. We start next week and we should have a good group of about 20-odd to get into that, like we did last year.”

Noonan signed as a non-playing coach and took CSU back to finals in his first season. He played a couple of games, pinch-hitting during uni holidays, and, believing he had left his injury worries behind, was looking forward to a full pre-season in preparation for putting the boots on regularly in 2019. 

MORE SPORTS NEWS here, including: