That was until Mr Short's United teammate, Mitch McCarron, tested positive for the virus.

Less than a week later, the former St Patrick's College student tested positive.

IN OTHER NEWS:

That call began a tough couple of months, the effects of COVID impacting on the 23-year-old's life.

Long nights followed in the immediate aftermath of the positive test result.

"The (second) night was probably one of the worst nights I've ever had alive, I guess you could say," he said.

"Cold sweats, shivering, uncontrollable shakes, it was just the worst ... feeling I think I've ever had.

"One minute I was boiling hot and I was in next-to-no clothes, no blankets.

"The next I had tracky pants, a hoodie, heat packs, two or three dooners on top of me."

Loss of taste and smell was the next noticeable result of the virus, in early August, neither of which returned until January of 2021.

"Probably a week in I started sort of noticing that I couldn't smell or taste anything. It doesn't sound like much but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone," he said.

"I remember ordering Uber Eats from a cafe ... and it was my favourite thing, it's a grilled chicken burger, it has this unbelievable sauce on it ... and it was just like cardboard.

"I was just like 'oh no, this isn't good, I can't taste anything.'"

The impact on his fitness was noticeable.

"All of us that were positive had to go do a bunch of tests ... to make sure we were okay to basically ride on a bike for five minutes, we couldn't even do that for a point of time," Mr Short said.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.