Playing in one of the biggest Intrust Super Shute Shield matches of the year at a packed Manly Oval, Marlins captain Kotoni Ale had ball in hand and was looking to extend his sides 14-10 lead over close rivals Warringah.

Like he’d done many a time before, the 25-year old took on the defence with little thought for his own personal regard.

But this time, something was different. This time, something went wrong.

As Ale was tackled, his ankle dug into the Manly Oval turf with momentum taking his 104kg frame in the other direction.

“At the time it was pretty painful and a fairly horrific injury… I went in and out of shock then once the medication got into my system I don’t remember much of how it happened or much of the rest of the day,” Ale told Rugby News.

The backrower had suffered a dislocation and a compound fracture to his ankle and was taken to Royal North Shore hospital, with two ambulances and close to an hour needed to move him from the playing field.

“I was in hospital for about five or six days after the injury. I got the ankle put back in place because it was dislocated plus I had the compound fracture so they had to put a few screws in to hold the fracture.”

Experts told Ale he may never play rugby again, but they may as well not have wasted their breath.

Immediately, he turned his mind to his rehab.

“A few months down the track it’s probably recovering better then I expected and better then the surgeon expected,” Ale said.

“I had about four weeks of rehab to strengthen it then I got a few of the screws taken out and got put into a moon boot. From there, I slowly began to put weight on it and then started walking again.”

Now less then six months later, Ale is back running.

“I only lasted about five minutes, but it was a whole lot better then walking,” he said.

“As a player, you never want to hear that you will never play again. You always want to go out in your own way so for me, I took it on board as motivation to try and prove them wrong and at this stage I’ve already got a bit of redemption.”

After hitting “rock bottom” shortly after the injury, Ale admitted the mental battle had been just as difficult as the physical one and credited those around him for keeping him on track.

Moments later, ‘competitive Kotoni’ was back, talking about a return to the playing field with his beloved Marlins.

“My number one priority is to get my body right, both mentally and physically.”

“I always like to set goals, so I’ve set myself the goal of being back playing by maybe halfway through next year or at the back end of next year, but as I said, if my body doesn’t feel right by then, then I’ll just have to give it a rest and hope to come back the year after.”

Ale could do little but watch as Manly fell heartbreakingly short of claiming their first premiership since 1997, going down to Eastwood 15-12 in this year’s decider.

“It was tough to watch, but at the same time I was really proud of the boys. They put their best foots forward in that grand final. At the end of the day, it was a game that could have gone either way, but unfortunately for us it went Eastwood’s way.”

At 25, the former Australian Schoolboy said leading Manly to a breakthrough premiership was high on his ‘to do list’, but as one of the competition’s most consistent performers in recent years, he also hasn’t lost sight of cracking the professional ranks.

“At this stage, I’ve just got to take it slow and see how my body feels and take it from there.”

“I’ve always dreamed of getting a crack in Australia with a Super Rugby franchise or maybe go overseas to try my luck in the northern hemisphere or anywhere internationally.”

A handful of Marlins have taken that step on the back of strong 2015 seasons, with Matt Lucas and Reece Hodge both picking up professional contracts.

But that’s nothing new for the 2014 and 2015 minor premiers, with the Marlins set to call upon the club’s depth once again in 2016.

“We had the same thing happen at the end of last year, with lots of guys leaving. As a group, you’ve just got to come together and from the start of 2016 you’ve got to explain to them what is expected as a group.”

“If we all buy in, then it doesn’t matter who we lose because the guys that come in are going to do the job and then anything is possible.”

And after what he’s been through, you get the feeling Kotoni Ale means it.