BEING told a second successive anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear due to a contact injury was “like lightning has just struck twice” was little comfort for Grace Tracey. The Swans Academy member sat out most of 2025 with the injury to her left knee, and returned to win the MVP for her side at the Under 17 Futures, make the National Academy squad and have a big preseason, before that lightning struck a second time.

“I did it preseason, I think it was two weeks before our first game which isn’t ideal,” Tracey said. “When I did it, obviously there was a pop sound that you hear. “But I was trying to be in denial and be like ‘nah it’s fine’ because I didn’t really get any swelling and I still had full range of motion so there was no real big indicator other than the impact that I did it.

“I was quite hopeful, I drove home from Sydney that day. “Then I went to my physio and he was like ‘nah you’ve done it’.”

It was Tracey’s opposite right knee that sustained a clash when going for a groundball, the far more rare of the ACL-sustaining on-field actions compared to change of direction or movement in general.

“Both of mine have been contact injuries,” Tracey said. “I was going down to pick up the ball and they said ‘you’ve just been unlucky twice, like lightning has just struck twice’ and I was like ‘oh thanks’.”

While little comfort in being told she’d copped two very separate rare events twice that sidelined her for the bulk of the last three years, Tracey was optimistic about it not being a change of direction ACL.

“I think it does (make me feel a little more confident), like obviously they just said there was nothing I could have done,” she said. “So I know from my prep and rehab I’m doing everything right and I’ve just been unlucky. “Also doing the other knee it gives me confidence because my left knee’s completely fine so that the whole process now through rehab I know that if I do the right things, it will all be fine again.”

Tracey originally got a State Draft Combine, but was upgraded to a National a couple of weeks out from the week with clubs keen to find out more about how her injury was tracking. The National Draft Combine has an added medical section that clubs get access to on top of individual interviews with draft prospects.

“I got a call just to say I’ve been invited to the state combine which obviously since I haven’t played this year I was really grateful for to have, and obviously I’ve gotten this year I’m very grateful for because I’m out last year,” she said. “But the plan last year was to make National Combine so that was to some degree a bit disappointing.

“Then it got put through for me to get an elevation to have the medical especially because obviously having my knees, that’s a key thing clubs want to hear about. “Then I got a call and an email to say that I’d been elevated, which I was pretty stoked about.”

Just “grateful” to be at the Draft Combine given her lack of on-field action, Tracey said her knees were a “talking point” due to not having any 2026 vision to pour over, but the New South Wales draft hope said she was much more than her injury.

“Obviously it’s a bit of a talking point because I’ve done two now, and I also don’t have any vision from this year to show people, so I think especially at the start, it was basically ‘how can I best prepare and how can I use this year the best I can to still improve?’ and like showcase that I still have a lot to give even though I’m not playing this year,” Tracey said.

“It’s definitely a key topic, but it’s not my whole personality in life, so it’s good that I can still talk about what I can still bring.”

Tracey understands the nature of the draft, and while remaining in Sydney at the Swans would be perfect, she is open to anywhere in order to chase her dream, especially with so many other Swans Academy members in the draft frame.

“Like obviously Sydney is home but I’m more than happy to move anywhere,” she said. “AFL’s the dream so if that is WA or anywhere else, I’m happy to be there. “Really anywhere.”

While she has been unable to show her on-field improvements this year, Tracey said her vision and footy IQ were a couple of areas she had developed thanks to a “different perspective” in 2026.

“I spent a lot of this year up in the coaches box and trying to look at the game from a different perspective,” she said. “I think I got a lot out of this year and it’s stuff I wouldn’t have got out of this year if it wasn’t for my injury.”

Naturally a key defender, Tracey has “tinkered” with playing in the ruck and also spent time forward in the past, but behind the ball is where she is best suited. Not that she minds where she plays. Instead she is just looking at ways she can improve and show what she’s got on teh field when given a chance.

“For me at the start of the year my goal was to work on driving my legs and I’m not a player who’s going to run the whole field, but I just wanted to break contest and use my strength to be able to drive my legs and get out of congestion and break lines,” Tracey said.

“I just want to prove that my injuries are not my defining factor. I’m still a good footballer and I still have a lot to give despite that. Obviously playing would be the big thing and obviously getting back into it. But proving I’m more than just an injury.”

DRAFT FEATURES:

New South Wales: Evie Bowie, Frances Walsh, Majella Day, Morgan Stevens, Ashleigh Barlow
Queensland: Zoe Petrides, Summer Browning, Aiyana Pritchard
South Australia: Emily Mableson, Emma Charlton, Ruby Lynch, Layla Vizgaudis, Lucy Moore
Vic Country: Greea McKeegan, Lily Milner, Eliza Roche, Lacey Nihill
Vic Metro: Bailee Martin, Tayla Olivieri, Maddison Meagher, Brylee Anderson, Grace McIntyre, Alli Allen, Kiara Boyd, Isabella Mazzei
Western Australia: Lexi Strachan, Mia Carlshausen