Canberra Capitals star Lauren Jackson is confident she will be on court early in the season and her body is "feeling the best it has in two years" after a positive prognosis on her injured knee.
She's achieved virtually everything in the game but Jackson will lead the Capitals for the first time as co-captain with Carly Wilson this season.
Jackson is now running and shooting and on track to hit the court for the undermanned Capitals in the early rounds.
Although she played in great pain, Canberra won five of the six games she played last year before she went under the knife.
"I had the scope a couple of weeks ago and things are a lot better now, which is unbelievable it happened that quickly," Jackson said.
"I was running within two weeks and now I'm back on court and shooting and actually feeling better than I have in two years. I feel fit and healthy and ready to get out there.
"There's no time frame [to play again], but I'm pretty confident it's going to be pretty soon.
"As soon as I'm ready they want me out there, it's really exciting.
"Someone from Melbourne is coming up tomorrow [Tuesday] to work on my sideways movement and as soon as my knee's ready to do that, I'll be back on the court with the girls."
It sounds strange for a player of Jackson's calibre to admit she's learning the basics of the game again, but that's her next step to leaving her injury dramas behind.
"For me it's a matter of getting my touch back," she said.
"I'm not counting last year because I was in so much pain, but learning to shoot properly again with two legs and doing things the way I used to do them was really difficult.
"Even learning to run again was just unreal, but I'm pretty positive after a couple of weeks that will come back with muscle memory.
"I just want to have one good year before I hang up the boots, so to speak.
"I feel like this year we've got a lot of talent and I just want to do it pain free. That would be a joy."
Jackson admitted she was surprised to get the captaincy call-up, but happy to cross it off the bucket list.
"It's great to be working with Willo [Wilson] and having a leadership role in the team is really exciting, I think we're going to do some good things this year," she said.
"We definitely compliment each other in the way we are personality wise and I think it's going to be great for the team.
"I'm going to be out for a couple of weeks or however long and we need a captain on court, she's been the stalwart of this team for the last seven years."
Wilson described it as an honour to lead the side, but knows the team will enter Saturday's season opener against Dandenong at AIS Arena on Saturday severely undermanned.
With Jackson already sidelined, Hanna Zavec will miss at least two weeks with a rib injury and WNBA recruit Renee Montgomery is yet to arrive.
Reigning WNBL most valuable player Abby Bishop will also play restricted minutes as she recovers from a hamstring injury.
The versatile Wilson is set to play big minutes in the post in Jackson and Bishop's absence.
"We are a little undermanned right now. I'd love for the season to be another couple of weeks away so we can get more bodies on court, but we'll go into Saturday wanting to win," Wilson said.
"We're going to be small and that's going to make it difficult in some respects, but they're going to have to guard us as well."
SATURDAY
WNBL round one: Canberra Capitals v Dandenong Rangers at AIS Arena, 7pm
Tickets available from Ticketek
