It must have felt like it took an eternity, but Brent Staker has finally reached the end of the long road back from consecutive knee reconstructions.

What’s more, the journey hasn’t been without a couple of false starts along the way.

The treacherous run began in the Lions’ 2011 season opener against Fremantle at the Gabba when the former Eagle ruptured his ACL on the same fateful night that Co-Captain Jonathan Brown suffered a sickening head injury.

After opting for LARS surgery, Staker almost immediately began his rehabilitation, and made a remarkable return to the senior team just four months later.

But during his sixth game back – the final round of 2011 – tragedy struck the same knee. This time he would undergo a more conventional reconstruction which would keep him sidelined for 12 months.

Staker had nothing but time to come to terms with this latest setback, but continued to diligently work away at his rehab while also acting as an Assistant Coach for the Lions’ all-conquering 2012 NEAFL premiership side.

Once the 2013 pre-season had begun, the 27-year-old was raring to go and joined his more experienced teammates in Arizona for their high-altitude camp.

Staker proved one of the standouts on the track, both in the USA and back in Brisbane, and looked set to play a role in the team’s NAB Cup campaign.

“I think the first time I came back pretty quickly and was probably a bit hesitant,” Staker told lions.com.au at the time. “With a full 12 months behind me now, I feel really confident and good about it.”

But on the eve of the pre-season competition, he began to experience some pain in his ‘other’ knee and was forced to go under the knife again to remove a small amount of cartilage.

While it was only a minor clean-up, it would be enough to keep him out of action for another couple of months.

"It's been a frustrating time," Staker said at the time.

“I hadn't missed a session all pre-season and the left knee just flared up out of the blue.”

He was eased back through his first game in 20 months with the Lions Reserves against Broadbeach in Round 5, and gradually grew in confidence during each of his subsequent matches.

Now, after missing 44 of the team’s past 51 senior matches, Staker’s opportunity to reclaim a position in the side has finally arrived.

And hopefully this time, there are no unexpected twists or turns.