IN JULY last year, Bachar Houli made a very important decision.

He'd been struggling to overcome groin pain for more than a month. Running, something the naturally-fit midfielder has never found difficult, was suddenly a challenge.

"I was battling for about four to five weeks, trying to get back in there and get my body right," Houli told afl.com.au at Essendon's Community Camp in Melton.

"At the end of the day, I tried to run after four weeks and it was just no good and then the left side started to be pretty painful too.

"I told the doctors, 'I want to get the surgery done and get it out of the way so I can focus on 2009'."

The 20-year-old knew having the tendon-release operation on both sides of his groin would rule him out for the remainder of the year.

He also knew there were no guarantees on when he'd be right to run again, and that he'd be literally off his feet for close to six months. 

However, the decision to go under the knife came surprisingly easy.

"I could have played but I would have got nothing out of it," he recalled.

"I want to look at my career as a long-term, not just in the short-term.

"With the way the game is going these days, it could have easily is affected me in the future.

"I thought it was better getting it done as soon as I could so I could get back in 2009 and not let it disturb this year. It was the right thing to do."

Houli was naturally behind the group when he finally returned to training this pre-season, having not run since before the operation.

Since then, he's managed to boost his fitness back to where it once was and has amazed the coaches with his rapid improvement.

"When I first started running with the group, I was struggling a fair bit," he said.

"The main thing was I was really strong in the mind, and slowly, slowly, I chipped away and got fitter.

"I've been doing extra sessions, and then earlier this week, I really felt like I was pretty fit compared to the rest of the group."

The impressive left-footer now has his sights set on playing in the NAB Cup – possibly as early as next Friday against the Western Bulldogs.

"I played a scratch match last week and I pulled up all right, and hopefully I can play next week in a practice match," he said.

"If I pull up all right from that, then hopefully I'll play in the NAB Cup.

"The coach will make the decision next week based on performance and how players pull up, depending on if they want to rest the older boys and play a young group in Darwin.

"It's quicker than I thought I'd be back in there, but I'm very excited to get back. The main thing was doing everything right, listening to the physios and that's what I've done.

"It all pays off at the end of the day."