As he watched the 2024 HKFC Standard Chartered Soccer Sevens nursing the leg he had badly broken a fortnight earlier, Dominic Johns did not know his next two years would be blighted by “a pretty big mental struggle”.
A nippy, resourceful forward for Football Club, Johns had unsuccessful surgery after a tackle from North District’s Ho Chun-ho snapped the tibia and fibula bones in his right leg.
Following a second procedure to remove a metal rod and investigate other issues, the Australian suffered an infection in his leg. He had three or four months “on antibiotics and with my leg hanging floppy” before a November 2024 operation in Sydney that launched Johns on a complicated road to recovery.
A frustrated, uncomfortable spectator two years ago, and employed to produce digital content for the 2025 edition, Johns will captain Football Club in this weekend’s sevens.
“It’s third time lucky,” he said. “It’s been a very, very long process, with too many setbacks to count. For most of the first 1½ years, I couldn’t plan the rehab because I never knew what would happen next.”
Playing a friendly match early this season, Johns suffered a blow that was as painful mentally as it was physically.