Katie Lynch had to literally retrain her brain and body how to run again as she overcame a debilitating Achilles injury.

The "complex tendinopathy" hampered much of her 2023 season at the Western Bulldogs, which would turn out to be her last there before transferring to Gold Coast in the off-season.

Lynch played as the deepest defender, describing herself as more of an on-field coach with her inability to move freely.

But an end-of-season visit with Dr Ebonie Rio began to address the problem that had hampered her for so long.

Just days out from making her SUNS debut against St Kilda at People First Stadium, Lynch told AFL.com.au the meeting with the tendon specialist was an eye opener that put her on the road to recovery.

"I really appreciated how blunt and honest she was," Lynch said.

"There was no magic bullet to fix it, it was going to take a long time. It was an every day rehab thing."

The first thing Lynch got tested was her calf strength. How many calf raises could she do?

When the result was a "deplorable" – Katie's words, not the doctor's – 12, she realised there was a long way to go.

For the Achilles to heal, the calf had to strengthen. And the magic number of raises to hit before she could even contemplate running without pain was 35.

"There were some really unique exercises that were really black and white," Lynch said.

"I was doing stair-walking every second day up on my toes. It was basically a calf strengthening program.

"I had to use a metronome beep and walk up the stairs on my tippy toes to the beep. I'm still doing it now.

"I had to retrain my brain to compute how to run and walk again."

The rehab process was as difficult mentally as it was physically. Lynch, who has played 42 AFLW games for Collingwood and the Bulldogs over the past six seasons, had to accept she was going to lose fitness.

Not only was she unable to run, but she even had to stay off the bike for a period of time as well.

When the calves were strong and the Achilles back in order, the fitness could then be worked on.

That took seven months of dedication, with Lynch not back training until May.

"I was nervous because I'd associated running with pain for so long and it was just an expectation that it was going to hurt," she said.

"It's actually taken a really long time to mentally trust my body.

"It probably took me a month-and-a half to get over that side and not think about that while I was training.

"I just love that I can freely run around now.

"It's quite mentally laborious what I was going through last year. Not having to worry about how I'm prepping, having restricted minutes, doing my own warm up, there was none of that, just being a regular team member is life changing."

Lynch also had a new club and new state to settle into, immersing herself in new social circles and improvement her game knowledge along the way.

Set to be partnered alongside Melbourne recruit Charlotte Wilson in defence, Lynch said she couldn't wait to get underway.

"I'm feeling good coming into this season," she said.

"The high-performance team have done a great job in getting me back in a way that was realistic for me.

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"Personally, I think my task is quite simple, it's just a case of going out and executing now, which I think I'm more than capable of.

"I'm really excited to see how I go."