AN INHERENT desire to succeed is the motivating factor behind most of the world’s best athletes, but for Crows midfielder Chris Knights, it’s been one of his greatest obstacles.

Knights, who is just five games-shy of the 50-milestone, has worked hard to get to where he is today and, along the way, has been forced to deal with a ‘fear of failure’, which threatened to prevent him from enjoying a long and successful AFL career.

Knights is a disciple of Adelaide’s cycling guru and player mentor Charlie Walsh, who compelled the driven 21-year-old to confront the issue early on in his career.

“It’s something that we have to, continually, deal with,” Knights said of the fear.

“Charlie would set me challenges on the bike that he knew I probably couldn’t achieve from a physical point of view and, as an individual I had to understand that it was okay not to be able to achieve those goals.

“It teaches you to accept that you can’t do something and then, as a result, you have to change your tactics a little bit, make sure you keep chipping away and doing as best you can without letting it get on top of you.”

The young Victorian experienced a standout season in 2007, playing 22 of a possible 23 games and showcasing his prolific ball winning abilities.

Knights, 10th place in Adelaide’s best and fairest last year, endured a frustrating start to 2008, badly injuring his quad in the NAB Cup Grand Final against St Kilda and missing seven weeks.

The hard-bodied onballer returned to the side against Carlton in round six, but for several weeks after, was not happy with his output.

“I definitely wanted to improve on my year, so I really had to work a bit harder,” a frank Knights said.

“I had to get some help off a few players and really turn it around a bit because, while I was going alright, I wasn’t really where I wanted to be.”

In the past month, Knights has built on his impressive form of last year, averaging 29 possessions a game, including a career-best 37 against Collingwood in round 15.

Knights credited his recent “really good” form to some hard work off the track.

I’ve been doing a few extra sessions on the bike with Charlie and with Symesy [teammate Brad Symes], but a lot of it, for me, is mental,” he said.

“I’ve been doing extra mental sessions, which includes visualisation, with Charlie and also by myself.”

Knights is also one of the most ‘explosive’ players at West Lakes, along with James Sellar and Andrew McLeod, as measured by the ‘power-to-weight’ ratio on the stationary bike.

“I’m probably not the fastest guy here. I’m up there, but I know there are guys faster than me,” Knights said.

“What I do though, is produce a high number of kilowatts at an ‘explosive’ level and because I’m lighter, the equation that Charlie puts into his computer works out that I’m on top in that area at the club.”

Knights, who grew up playing footy alongside twin brother Brad in Vermont outside Melbourne, identified three iconic South Australian figures as the biggest influences on his career.

“I respect the way Simon Goodwin goes about it. He’s always looking to improve and doing extra sessions, so he’s never resting on his laurels,” Knights said.

“And from a mentor side of things, I’d have to say Craigy [Neil Craig]. While he’s been a tough coach and a very honest coach, he’s definitely got the best out of me as has Charlie, who I’ve worked very closely with throughout my career.”