"It was good to get a bit of an understanding as to why it kept cramping when I was doing things. I just couldn't do those exercises without cramping. I felt like it was in my head at one stage, but it wasn't, thank goodness.
"What normally happens is that the muscle regrows around it and starts to build again, and mine just didn't do that."
The hamstring is made up of three muscles running down the back of the leg between the hip and the knee. In the middle is the semitendinosus, from which a graft can be taken to fashion a new knee ligament.
"They take about 15 to 20 centimetres, they pull it really tight and reattach it and bundle it," Green said.
"There's positives and negatives of every tendon you take. Some people do patellar tendon, some people do cadaver. The guy that did my knee, he specialises in cadaver, but he had no science or no proof that that was any better than doing a hamstring for athletes.
"For everyday humans that aren't going out and playing netball and being stupid like me, a cadaver might work quite nicely because then you're not rehabbing two parts.
"I've found a way around it. I can feel it strengthening. Now that I'm getting out on the court and doing things it's strengthened completely.
"I've got the other two parts of the hamstring that I've completely, absolutely smashed now."
Green has lost none of the dash she had pre-knee injury.
The extended off-season, which has stretched to more than 10 months due to a Commonwealth Games-enforced fixture reshuffle, has proved a blessing in disguise for Green who has had ample time to recover, physically and mentally.
"I was really worried because that's part of your speed, part of your power, part of your change of direction, and having three parts of a hamstring is better than two," Green said.
"Ultimately, it's been better for me in a sense, but I'm still obviously working out how to play my game again.
"My speed is actually faster than what I was previously. My agility is exactly the same as before I did it. Everything is either the same or better than before I did it.
"I've been running for a very long time. The good thing was mentally for me was that I never had to rush anything.
"If I have a seven-month or eight-month turnaround with this hamstring I actually probably would've gone insane and pulled the pin because I knew I probably wouldn't have been ready. Because I've had 12 months, it's given me the mental break out of the whole rehab.
"That's not to say that it's been smooth sailing. I've had my moments, don't get me wrong, but also having a life outside of netball has definitely helped."
Like all of her Super Netball colleagues, Green is off contract at the end of the season, but the 32-year-old has unfinished business to attend to before she finishes up in the sport.
Should she play every match this year and three games during the finals, Green will reach the 200-game milestone.
But it's the potential of winning a premiership that is driving her during the final phase of her playing career.
"It [the knee injury] definitely has freshened me up and I do believe that it's given me a couple more years on my career," Green said.
"What it's made me do is actually break everything apart, from the way I stand to the way I walk, to run, to change direction, absolutely everything has been picked apart.
"My body's never been in better shape than it is right now and I can honestly say that. I still really enjoy it, I still feel like I can give to the sport and I think that's a really important thing for me.
"I'd really like to stick around for another couple of years, absolutely. I still want to chase a premiership. We've been so close. Three years for me being in a grand final and not getting that win it burns pretty bright inside."
SUPER NETBALL ROUND ONE
Giants Netball v Sunshine Coast Lightning, 1pm
NSW Swifts v Queensland Firebirds, 3pm
Giants squad: Kim Green (captain), Kiera Austin, Kristina Brice, Bec Bulley, Serena Guthrie, Jo Harten, Kristiana Manu'a, Susan Pettitt, Sam Poolman, Jamie-Lee Price
NSW Swifts: Abby McCulloch (captain), Kate Eddy, Sophie Garbin, Paige Hadley, Helen Housby, Sarah Klau, Claire O'Brien, Maddy Proud, Maddy Turner, Sam Wallace
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James Buckley writes on AFL for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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