Seb Tape knows only too well the agonising road back from a full knee reconstruction, but the spirited defender says Zac Smith is progressing faster than anyone could have imagined. 

“Zac has been going great, he has been really diligent in everything he has done and has constantly been the ultimate professional through it all,” he said. 

“We’re all hoping he can get back as soon as possible.”

On face value, it’s hard to find positives from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

But Tape believes the Gold Coast ruckman can take comfort knowing he will have a better opportunity to add to his career tally given his early-season exit, with Smith’s knee injury occurring in Round 8 as opposed to his own in Round 12 of 2012. 

“He did his injury a month earlier than me, so at least his rehabilitation might be a bit earlier than me.”

Joining in on the main training group, the lanky giant completed his first full skills session for the summer, taking strong overhead marks and kicking to moving targets. 

It is just another small milestone for the Rockhampton product, who recently graduated from monitored sprint training. 

Having lived through the daily grind of an ACL recovery, Tape said he couldn’t be happier for Smith, revealing to goldcoastfc.com.au that there were certain stages of his own rehabilitation that made for some tough times. 

“I remember going through certain stages and it can get quite tough, especially because it is such a long process,” Tape said.

“Around Christmas time for me it was a real slump, which made it slow getting up for sessions.

“But I have spoken to him, to let him know what I went through to help him out but he doesn’t give too much away.

“He is just taking it all in his stride which has been great to see.”

Meanwhile, Tape says morale around the playing list is on the rise, with the NAB Challenge series just around the corner.

“You can definitely start to sense that shift now that football is fast approaching. 

“There is a bit of a buzz around the group.”