IN February of 2025, Andy Moniz-Wakefield was on the precipice of a breakthrough year of AFL.  

In 2024, he debuted for the club and remained in the side for a total of six matches, steadying himself at the top level and setting himself up for a strong fourth season at the Dees.  

But during the 2025 pre-season, in the dying minutes of Melbourne’s hit-out against North Melbourne, a ‘worst case scenario’ hit the young defender’s career.  
 
“I knew straight away when it happened that it wasn’t good,” Moniz-Wakefield recalls of the heartbreaking moment.  
 
“It was so painful when I tried to get up and walk off, Jake Lever and Tom McDonald told me to sit back down, I think they knew too. 

I just kept asking the club doctor as we were coming off the ground ‘Have I done my ACL? Have I done my ACL?’

“When we got to the rooms and they were testing my knee, they looked me in the eye and told me.” 

It was the news that no professional athlete wants to hear. He’d ruptured his ACL and would be sidelined for the remainder of the year.  
 
While the sting of his upcoming rehab was difficult to digest, what hit extra hard was the fact he’d just produced one of his strongest pre-seasons to date.  
 
“I felt like I got a good taste of what it took to play AFL with those six games at the end of 2024,” Moniz-Wakefield said.

I tried to set myself up for a massive pre-season heading into 2025, I felt like I was playing my best footy and then it was just instant heartbreak in the last two minutes of that game.

“And that’s what broke me, because I went through a whole pre-season doing so well and then it was just over.” 

The 22-year-old had gone from being best on ground that day, to being devastated within a matter of seconds. Now he was about to begin the 12-month long road to recovery.  

Luckily, in the football world, when a player ruptures their ACL, things move quickly.  

His journey started almost straight away, getting scans, undergoing surgery, and then getting the movement back in his leg.  

It was a good distraction in the early weeks and months of his injury, but the stall in progress was daunting following the initial stages of rehab.  
 
“It was a really quick process,” Moniz-Wakefield said.  
 
“I was surprised I was moving pretty early but then it was really challenging when it got to a point where it felt like I was just staying at that one stage of rehab for ages, it was like I wasn’t really making any progress.” 

It's a tough reality that players have to face when playing the game, in addition to training away from the main group.  

“It’s definitely been hard, you kind of forget what it’s like to play football,” Moniz-Wakefield said.  

I obviously wasn’t on the same program as the boys so there’s time where you feel isolated and so there were definitely dark days throughout the journey.

“But having Shane McAdam in rehab with me made everything so much easier. The high-performance team did such a great job with our programs so that we were basically doing everything together. 

“I had a mate there and we were able to push each other through it.”  

Despite this feeling of isolation, Moniz-Wakefield tried to stay as connected as possible to both his teammates and the game, spending time with the coaches and seeing a new side of AFL.  

“I watch vision and help out as much as I can,” Moniz-Wakefield said.  
 
“You don’t want to forget the game, so I leaned on the coaches and spent some time with them watching matches and seeing the game through their eyes, which has been valuable I think.” 

Almost 12 months on from the moment his career stalled, Moniz-Wakefield is closing in on a return to football.  

Last week, the defender and club physiotherapist Keith De Souza made the trip up to Pitch Ready in Sydney.  

The organisation runs biomechanical testing to make sure athletes are moving safely before the final steps to return to full training and match play. 

“We did a day trip to Sydney, they had cool technology that showed that I had a couple of improvements to make,” Moniz-Wakefield said.  

“I’ll focus on them over the next month and then I’ll hopefully be ready to be available for Round 1.” 

As that opening game looms on March 15, the club’s AFL program is preparing for its new era under senior coach Steven King.   

Moniz-Wakefield, who re-signed with the club at the end of last year, said it was a fresh experience but one that was important for the players.  
 
“I was definitely nervous meeting Kingy, but it’s all gone smoothly,” Moniz-Wakefield said. 

“There’s a good buzz among the group now and I’m so grateful to the club for giving me another year on my contract. 

“I’m excited to see how I can go this season and how the team goes.”