Sydney rebounding defender Nick Malceski has credited a premiership medal and full AFL pre-season as the tonic for his career-best form.

Malceski is best known as being a pioneer of Ligament Augmentation & Reconstruction System (LARS) surgery, having fought back from three knee reconstructions to play a vital role in the Swans’ 2012 premiership win.

Malceski’s resilience will be underlined on Saturday night, when the 29-year-old plays his 150th AFL match in the Swans’ semi-final against Carlton at ANZ Stadium.

To put Malceski’s long road in perspective, 22-year-old teammate Dan Hannebery will play his 100th match in the same sudden-death fixture against the Blues.

“I think it’s one of the more remarkable stories in football,” Swans coach John Longmire said of Malceski, who needed knee reconstructions in 2004, 2008 and 2011.

“Three knee reconstructions and he’s still playing today, and was in the All-Australian squad of 40. It’s a real credit to his mental strength and his ability to overcome hurdles.”

Malceski booted the premiership-sealing goal in last year’s grand final, and has since taken his game to another level.

“Winning a premiership, you sort of draw a bit of confidence out of it and I’ve just had a big pre-season,” Malceski said of his consistency this year.

“I wanted to really work on getting my run back and my hardness and I guess it’s flowed into this year.

“My body has just felt good most games. I’ve been recovering pretty well.

“But I’ve got a lot of areas I need to improve on and they’re things I’ll work on this week and next year.”

Malceski will spend little time celebrating or thinking about the milestone this week, with the Blues demanding his full attention.

“They were relentless (against Richmond),” he said.