He will be part of the Crusaders' side that will play the last game of the DHL Super Rugby Pacific super round in Melbourne against the home-town team, the Rebels.
It completes a sometimes tortuous journey for Goodhue, who was not unfamiliar with the seriousness of knee injuries.
Goodhue said he was grateful to be playing again. It had been hard to recover from the injury. But with the support of staff he was back and looking forward to getting out on the field.
"When you have injuries like that you realise how you have got to take every game and enjoy it as much as you can," he said.
There had been tough moments, especially when things didn't seem to be improving despite putting in the hard work.
"The hardest part was when I had my last knee injury [in 2015], it was pretty linear progress. It never reacted too badly to training.
"It could be a little sore sometimes, but when I did this knee, there was time when you would do a training, and you could feel like you didn't do anything too strenuous on it, and it would just react.
"It would be sore, it filled up with fluid, and then you couldn't run for a few days, or sometimes a week or two. That was the most challenging thing.
"You didn't know how long it was going to take, how long this was going to keep on happening because, if that keeps on happening, it keeps on delaying the return time," he said.
But, his mindset had always been to keep putting in the work to give himself the best chance to do well on his return.
Having been through an operation on his other knee in 2015, he knew what was involved. But last year's injury had been worse as it also involved cartilage and kneecap damage, and the rehabilitation harder.
"There was more work, but also more wisdom and awareness to help me get through it," he said.
Goodhue said he was well aware of the competition in the Crusaders' midfield, which had been good for the team.
"For me, it's just about getting back out there, doing my best," he said.
Having played club rugby in Christchurch as part of his recovery, he hadn't been conscious of looking after his knee. His reaction had been more about playing what was in front of him, which was something that took time to get used to again.
"Seeing the right pictures and making the right decisions is what my focus will be," he said.