A rotten run with injuries has failed to dampen Colin Slade’s spirits as he eyes a long-awaited return to rugby.
The Highlanders five-eighth hasn’t played since breaking his left leg against the Brumbies last March.
It was the latest piece of bad luck to hit the 10-Test All Black, who twice broke his jaw in the 2011 Super Rugby season and then had his World Cup ended prematurely later that year when he aggravated a groin injury in the quarter-final against Argentina.
His present lay-off has been a particularly lengthy one and the 25-year-old, who is targeting being back for the Highlanders in early March, admits it’s been a “long, lonely journey”.
“You turn up to the physio every day by yourself and do the rehab when everyone else is training or going off to lunch,” he said.
“You get to know yourself and how you respond to things.
“I like to think I pulled through it pretty well and I’m still upbeat about my chances of playing well and leading the Highlanders team around.”
Slade rates himself at 95 per cent on the road to full fitness, with a bit more contact work and running to do to cover off the last five per cent.
The Highlanders’ opening match against the defending champion Chiefs in Dunedin on February 22 will probably come a little too soon for him.
A bye the week after will give him more time to get ready, making him confident he will be right to go when the Cheetahs visit Invercargill on March 9.
It wasn’t been all rehab for Slade while he was sidelined last year.
He was able to finish off his last paper to complete a BA degree at Canterbury University, and he also took wife Emma on a belated honeymoon to Mexico and the United States.