THEORETICALLY, young forward Sean Rusling could have played 73 games of senior football by now.

Drafted in 2004, the promising goal-kicker should have surpassed his 50-game milestone and be honing in on his 100th career game as a key aspect of the Magpies' attacking structure.

But sadly, a left shoulder that looks like a "road map" and 17 senior appearances are all the 21-year-old has to show for the past four years, after a horrific run with upper body injuries.

First, Rusling cracked the left side of his collarbone in 2005 and was restricted to just six senior games. Then, he popped his shoulder – on the same side – in 2006, and underwent a full reconstruction that hampered his output to just five Magpie matches.

When 2007 rolled around, he entered the pre-season with all the optimism in the world before the shoulder came out again during the summer months, which relegated his season to "all but over" status before it had begun.  

He returned in round 20 and put together five games before the Pies' season ended in the preliminary final loss to Geelong. With some encouraging performances behind him and his shoulder feeling the "best it had since I was 15", Rusling faced 2008 with a renewed sense of confidence.

But once again, it all came crashing down in round one when he bounced off the MCG's turf in the Magpies' opening round win over Fremantle and felt the shoulder snap.  

"This injury is unrelated to the other ones, which makes it all the more frustrating," Rusling told collingwoodfc.com.au.

"I fractured the actual socket this time, and in the past, it's been more cartilage damage. I did that as well this time, but I did it a different way.

"I knew straight away, as soon as I hit the ground. I was sitting on the bench at the ground, and I just knew.

"That's football. And now you won't see me this year."

Shattered over the prospect of another year lost, the 21-year-old delayed his impended reconstruction in favour of a trip to Canada and the United States, where he went about "relaxing" and getting his head around another season-ending operation.

"I asked the club for some time to do it, and I've got some friends over there so it was good to get away," he said.

"I couldn't do a lot of things while I was there because of my shoulder but I went around and saw the sights, and spent some time at Whistler even though I couldn't go skiing.

"Mentally, it was one of the main things for me, to get out of Australia and get away from football for a few weeks. It helped me a lot."

Two weeks ago, Rusling had the shoulder rebuilt for the third time – his fourth operation on that side of his upper torso in as many years.

"I'm averaging one a year at the moment," he said, with a wry laugh. 

"It feels pretty good. I've been through the surgery before, so I sort of know what to expect now.

"But it feels OK. The wound has healed up and it feels comfortable, and it's not sore anymore. So far, so good."

Like it would to anyone, the frustration of not being able to prove himself at times takes its toll. He admitted he's considered giving the game away, but finds himself "missing it too much" every time he distances himself. 

"There's nothing I can really do about it. I know I did all my rehab to the best of my ability, and the club did everything it could for me as well," he said.

"So, it wasn't playing with a dodgy shoulder that did it, or anything like that. It felt really good. It just took a hit, and that was that.

"Everyone asks you the same question, about if I'm going to play again, and when I went overseas I started to miss the game a great deal.

"It has entered my head a few times, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen."

If there are any positives to come from Rusling's story so far, it's that persistent injury has taught him "it's just a game". He's become keenly interested in the horse-racing industry, and has begun to assemble a small stable while travelling the country to learn more about bloodlines and breeding.

"It seems to be a thing, footballers and horseracing," he said.

"I've been going up to the sales in Sydney and Queensland, and I'm going up to the Gold Coast for a week in a couple of weeks time for a horse sale up there.

"That keeps me occupied. I've been interested in it for a long time, and one of the good things to come out of the injury is it's given me time to do a few things outside footy."