After being drafted last November, the 18-year-old was flown to Hobart almost immediately to undergo surgery to remove a spur on his hip.
Forster played most of 2011 with Norwood in the SANFL, with his last game being a preliminary final.
“The surgery was a success, which was good, and I was in rehab following that,” Forster said.
He admits that coming to the club as a first year player and going straight into rehab has been a challenge, but he remained positive.
“All you want to do is get out and show why you got drafted, and being in rehab for the first six months has been really hard,” he said.
“You have to remain patient and positive. The most important thing is to make sure you do everything correctly, so you don’t end up back in rehab any time soon.”
The running defender lined up at half-back for Swan Districts reserves on Sunday.
He said the pace of the game compared to the football he had played previously was noticeably different.
“Coming off playing league football back in South Australia and the under 18 championships, it’s obviously a different tempo,” he said.
“I haven’t played a two’s games in a while, but coming back after not playing for so long, you sort of feel like any football is pretty fast.”
Forster was happy with his first half, but said he really began to feel the pinch as the game wore on.
“Obviously, having not had much game time in the previous months, I was always going to start feeling it a bit later in the game,” he said.
“But I m confident that in the coming weeks, I’ll be back to full fitness and be able to run out a full game. “
For now, Forster was happy just to get back out there and play some football.
“I think from here, I just need to focus on getting back and playing some consistent football, whether that’s at reserves level or, hopefully, at league level for Swans.”
