From a serious knee injury, to dominating the league

She has come back from one of the worst injuries in sport, now this Gold Coast Suns AFLW gun is one of the best players in the competition right now

She has come back from one of the worst injuries in sport, now this Gold Coast Suns AFLW gun is one of the best players in the competition right now.

Jamie Stanton, 12-months-ago, tore her ACL in the clubs 33-point over West Coast, ruling her out for the remainder of season seven.

Stanton returned to the footy field for season eight, more determined than ever, as the Suns chase their first AFLW premiership.

The Suns forward said it was a long road to recovery that had plenty of doubts.

“It has been a challenge, but it does feel so nice to be back out there,” Stanton said.

“It is a long process and it constantly throws different challenges and circles at you.

Gold Coast Suns forward Jamie Stanton returned from a serious ACL injury to become one of the best players in the AFLW competition. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Throughout rehab it can be quite a lonely place and you sometimes question why you do it.

“But then when you are back playing, those questions just disappear and it is so enjoyable.

“It is nice to be back out there with the girls.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Stanton with the major recovery, as she found herself more understanding of what her body can do in the process of returning to the elite level.

“One of the benefits of it now, is that I am so in tuned with my body and what I feel around injuries,” Stanton said.

“But in the rehab can be quite hard because you do feel every little thing and with every stage you go through, you do get pain because you are going through everything again for the first time again.

“So being aware that is what happens and being comfortable that every stage you progress through or step into, that you are going to get a new pain that you probably aren’t aware of.

“And being aware that one it is going to happen and two you can push through that sort of stuff.”

Upon her return to the AFLW this season, Stanton is the leading goal kicker across the competition.

Stanton booted a career high six goals in the round two clash with West Coast in the clubs first home game of the season at Heritage Bank Stadium.

The Suns won their first game in Melbourne on Sunday when they lined up against Collingwood, with Stanton booting three goals in a 12-point victory at Victoria Park.

Gold Coast return to HBS this Sunday to take on the winless Western Bulldogs, with Stanton confirming that they won’t be taking it easy on them.

“We hadn’t beaten a Melbourne team in Melbourne and to have Collingwood as that team was awesome,” Stanton said.

“We are starting to play the footy that Joycey (Cameron Joyce) our head coach wants us to play.

“The Bulldogs are a really experienced side and I think their form is a lot better than the ladder suggests.

“They have had a few close games, they played Melbourne last week who are probably the competitions favourites.

“And competed with them for a very, very long time, so they are no easy beat at all.”

Gold Coast VFL side will be playing in the clubs first grand final at Ikon Park on Sunday at 3:10pm against Werribee.

The club will be streaming the grand final on the big screen at HBS before the women’s game at 5:10pm.