Newcastlerabbit
Coach
- Messages
- 14,937
Craig Wing tells of his time in the wilderness with injury
By James Phelps | May 12, 2009 12:00am
Renewed confidence...Fully fit Souths star Craig Wing, at Redfern Oval yesterday, has emerged as a surprise Origin contender. Picture: Brett Costello / The Daily Telegraph
ISOLATED and alone was not how Craig Wing imagined his first season as a Rabbitoh would feel. He was a million-dollar signing and the poster boy of a proud club on the rise. Yet here he was, pounding a treadmill in the bowels of a decaying grandstand at Erskineville Oval.
All alone.
"When you are out injured you just sit in a cardio room, on a bike doing your boring injury stuff," Wing told The Daily Telegraph.
"I didn't sign up to be on a bike or a grinder or a rower. I hated it. It was awful. It was killing me."
It was early 2008 and these were dark days. Days when Wing questioned everything.
Earlier this year the man touted as the Rabbitohs' saviour admitted he felt worthless and depressed.
Yesterday he revealed the full extent of what was his toughest year.
Related Links
"When you get a serious injury you get pulled away from the team," Wing said.
"You watch them train, you watch the highs and lows but you are not a part of it.
"You do your own training in the background. I was a stranger. As a league player you play to be in a team. You want to share the highs and lows."
And Wing is a man who could have used a high or two last year.
Aside from an illegal tackle shattering his shoulder and ending his season after just seven minutes, Wing lost a reported $600,000 in a failed investment and his relationship with his long-term girlfriend ended.
"It is hard when your personal life gets dragged up," Wing said. "I have a public profile and it does belong to the public. Your form and football is fair game, they can talk about that, but when it's personal it gets tough."
But it was the rumours concerning his mates that hurt the most.
While he was stuck in his little room listening to the mind-numbing rhythm of his feet hitting the treadmill, people were saying Wing was on the outer with his teammates. That he wasn't liked. An outcast.
"There was a lot of pressure and I had injuries and it added to me being stressed out," Wing said.
"And the rumours hurt. It was hard because I didn't have football to help get on with the guys. I didn't really have the chance to get to know them. Last year I was on my own.
"It was tough with that but sh*t happens. People go through that and you have to deal with it."
But today Wing is smiling. Yesterday's outcast is today's comeback king, with the one-time bachelor of the year eyeing a return to rugby league's greatest stage - State of Origin.
"I am a lot happier these days," Wing said. "I am injury-free and fit and healthy. I think I am fitter, stronger and faster than ever."
A stellar return to representative football during the City-Country clash has him at short odds for a shock return to Origin.
"I am loving being out on the field again and I really enjoyed the experience of City-Country," Wing said. "I loved being in that rep environment. I won't lie, it is something I have really missed.
"I would love to play Origin again. I know that I could handle it if I was picked."
It's amazing what a return to the footy field will do for a man.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,25464796-5006066,00.html
By James Phelps | May 12, 2009 12:00am
ISOLATED and alone was not how Craig Wing imagined his first season as a Rabbitoh would feel. He was a million-dollar signing and the poster boy of a proud club on the rise. Yet here he was, pounding a treadmill in the bowels of a decaying grandstand at Erskineville Oval.
All alone.
"When you are out injured you just sit in a cardio room, on a bike doing your boring injury stuff," Wing told The Daily Telegraph.
"I didn't sign up to be on a bike or a grinder or a rower. I hated it. It was awful. It was killing me."
It was early 2008 and these were dark days. Days when Wing questioned everything.
Earlier this year the man touted as the Rabbitohs' saviour admitted he felt worthless and depressed.
Yesterday he revealed the full extent of what was his toughest year.
Related Links
"When you get a serious injury you get pulled away from the team," Wing said.
"You watch them train, you watch the highs and lows but you are not a part of it.
"You do your own training in the background. I was a stranger. As a league player you play to be in a team. You want to share the highs and lows."
And Wing is a man who could have used a high or two last year.
Aside from an illegal tackle shattering his shoulder and ending his season after just seven minutes, Wing lost a reported $600,000 in a failed investment and his relationship with his long-term girlfriend ended.
"It is hard when your personal life gets dragged up," Wing said. "I have a public profile and it does belong to the public. Your form and football is fair game, they can talk about that, but when it's personal it gets tough."
But it was the rumours concerning his mates that hurt the most.
While he was stuck in his little room listening to the mind-numbing rhythm of his feet hitting the treadmill, people were saying Wing was on the outer with his teammates. That he wasn't liked. An outcast.
"There was a lot of pressure and I had injuries and it added to me being stressed out," Wing said.
"And the rumours hurt. It was hard because I didn't have football to help get on with the guys. I didn't really have the chance to get to know them. Last year I was on my own.
"It was tough with that but sh*t happens. People go through that and you have to deal with it."
But today Wing is smiling. Yesterday's outcast is today's comeback king, with the one-time bachelor of the year eyeing a return to rugby league's greatest stage - State of Origin.
"I am a lot happier these days," Wing said. "I am injury-free and fit and healthy. I think I am fitter, stronger and faster than ever."
A stellar return to representative football during the City-Country clash has him at short odds for a shock return to Origin.
"I am loving being out on the field again and I really enjoyed the experience of City-Country," Wing said. "I loved being in that rep environment. I won't lie, it is something I have really missed.
"I would love to play Origin again. I know that I could handle it if I was picked."
It's amazing what a return to the footy field will do for a man.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,25464796-5006066,00.html
