BRISBANE Lions rookie Pat Garner will miss the entire 2009 season after undergoing a third reconstruction in five years on his right knee.

It's a cruel blow for the key position player, who is yet to make an appearance at the elite level since being taken by the Lions with selection No. 27 in the 2004 NAB AFL Draft.

But the 21-year-old is surprisingly upbeat even though he is set to spend at least another 12 months on the sidelines.

"Initially I was very upset but I took a couple of days, and had a couple of chats to (football manager) Gubby (Graeme) Allan, Vossy (Michael Voss), Craig Lambert, Chris Johnson and Luke Power, who were all great," Garner said.

"I was very close to Nigel Lappin, and he’s been through a lot of injuries so he’s given me a lot of great advice.

"You get good advice, even from the younger blokes at the club, so you’ve just got to pick and choose which advice you take."

Drafted from AFL Queensland side Western Magpies, Garner showed plenty of promise in his debut season but was struck down with his first knee injury when on the cusp of senior selection.

"[The first] time I was kicking, I had my leg outstretched and a bloke fell across it," he said. "The second time (in 2007) I was just in a marking contest and it twisted and turned."

His most recent mishap had its genesis at the end of last season, when Garner played about a dozen games for the Lions reserves in the AFLQ.

"I hurt it during the year but I still kept on playing on it, so it just became a little bit frayed over time I think, which may have caused it to become a bit weaker," he said.

Garner had surgery last Thursday and is happy with the result.

"It feels really good, it feels strong, so it feels a lot better than the previous two."

Garner is hoping to find work away from football as he embarks on another intensive rehabilitation program.

He has done it all before but is maintaining a positive outlook.

"Obviously footy is pretty much what I love doing so I don’t really want to give that up," he said. "It’s just another little hurdle on the way I suppose."