The 30-year-old is set for a 12 month stint on the sidelines after fracturing and tearing cartilage in his left knee during Devonport Strikers Lakoseljac Cup final win over Glenorchy in June.

Not only will the injury rob the Strikers of one of their key attacking weapons for their FFA Cup campaign and NPL Tasmania title chase, but will impact cricket, with Barnard a key part of the batting lineups at Devonport and the Greater Northern Raiders.

He had surgery last week, with a fortnight in a knee brace to follow.

He will be on crutches for the next six months.

"There wasn't any pain to start with as I just landed on my left leg and twisted and all the weight through it, and when I was jogging off my knee was clicking and it felt a bit weak and it started swelling up a bit,'' Barnard recalled this week.

"I didn't know what it was at that stage and I played on for five minutes and it didn't feel right so obviously then made the call to come off.

"I went to the physio after that and they thought it was a slight lateral ligament strain, which is not a major injury and you can come back from that in about three or four weeks and we were working under that diagnosis initially.

"The knee then started to feel better and everything seemed to be heading in the direction for the week or two, but then I took the dog out for a walk one night, for a three or four kilometre, pretty quick, walk on the concrete and woke up the next day and could barely stand up as the knee had swollen up and there was quite a lot of pain, with an MRI scan confirming the cartilage damage."

Barnard admitted the most serious injury of his sporting life has forced him to look at his own sporting mortality, as he will be 31 when he returns to the pitch, presuming things go to plan.

But despite those thoughts, his focus at present was purely on getting back to full fitness.

"There's a lot of water to go under the bridge, and we have to finish this season first and next season I am sure the club [the Strikers] will be looking at its list and decide what they need to going forward,'' he said.

"I will be 31 carrying a knee injury and whether or not I do make it back to the NPL team will depend on a lot of factors, some in my control and some out of my control, so I will just focus on my rehab and do the best that I can and in 6 to 12 months just see where I am."

While he would take an earlier return if it presented itself, he said he wouldn't rush the process.

He said at present it was a "wait and see" situation with a newer treatment being used with a gel substance in play to help regrow the cartilage.

"The people that make that product is that you are not supposed to return to any high impact sport for 12 months,'' he said.

It also means he has to adjust to life as a spectator rather than participant, with the first challenge of that being missing out on the Strikers trip to Victoria [COVID-19 situation pending of course] for its FFA Cup [a stage he has starred on in the past] round of 32 clash with Avondale on August 24.

"It is going to be pretty crap to be honest, as I love my sport and I love being out there playing,'' he said.

"So not being able do what I love is not ideal, but I have always been conscious that when you play sport you can get injured and the injuries often don't come at the best time.

"So I will just be focusing on my recovery and supporting the boys the best way that I can, and hopefully the boys can do well in the FFA Cup and get the job done in the league as well.

"So my role will be to just suck it up and support them the best I can."

He said he was ready to ride the highs and the lows as a supporter, as well as provide any advice if needed to Chris Gallo's troops.

He also said he would be happy to take on coaching or mentoring roles with the Orions, and was keen to also have a similar role with the Raiders, but would likely be following them more from afar.

Barnard's Strikers will return to Valley Road this weekend to host Glenorchy from 2.15pm.