VICKERY WEIGHS UP FUTURE

The raging Bull - Photo copyright of Cherrybomb

England prop Phil Vickery has admitted any further injuries could end his rugby-playing career.

The 28-year-old is currently recuperating from a second back operation four months ago.

And he said: "When you're unable to move and in pain it makes you realise that rugby is not number one any more. If it was to happen again, I would have to seriously consider my future."

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Jonny in Action - Photo copyright of Poyntonshark

On a much brighter note however, England’s Jonny Wilkinson has confirmed he is ready to make his long-awaited return to action - and the dedicated fly-half is warning his world rivals he wants to come back better than ever.

 “Enjoyment is going to be a massive part of it,” says Wilkinson,  after a full pre-season, including full contact training, the fun factor is big on the agenda. “The great thing about playing a team sport is the memories you can take from it. I’ve had some great experiences and I can say I’ve been involved in some wonderful things, but I can’t tell you that I’ve smiled my way through it. Maybe I want to do a bit more of that, and if you enjoy something you tend to do it better. “Having not had a break for a while, it’s given me great enthusiasm and real motivation, and I’ve come back with a real excitement for the game. I’ve said before that I want to enjoy my rugby, and having been out for so long, I’ve learnt that I really need to enjoy what I’m doing more, instead of seeing the pressure too much. “I really just want to go out there and concentrate on making the most of the time I’ve got. This year has told me that you never know quite when the finish line is for you, and for me it could have been March of this year.”

“I’ve been training hard and we’ve been doing full contact. I’ve now given the shoulder every test it needs, and I’m happy with it.” The World Cup winner candidly discusses the difficult time he went through during his lay-off, revealing: “It’s obviously something I’ve not been through before, so it’s been an up-and-down experience. “The up part came when I accepted that I was going to be out for a while, and it was a lot easier when I had an estimated timescale in my head. Up until April or May I wasn’t really sure if I could play in a couple of weeks or whether it would have to wait until next season. “It was an interesting experience, watching the guys playing from the sidelines, but undoubtedly one that I’ve taken a lot from.

 “There was a threat that the nerve was too damaged and didn’t want to come back, and that was scary at the time, but all the tests showed that it will, in time. In the period while that was happening it was quite frightening, but that was only for about three weeks in total, and there’s been a sharp improvement since then which has meant I haven’t looked back.”

 “During the whole time I had great help from the Falcons, my friends and my family. I trained from pretty much two days after my operation, right through until when I had a week away in the summer. Then when I came back from that week away it was straight back into it again “Having trained every day and had goals in my mind, I was able to keep going. I didn’t stop to think about it too much. Had I done so, then it could have been quite a down period, but with the likes of Steve Black around they kept me very upbeat and gave me things to do. “The whole idea of the way I’ve been training is that I come back stronger and fitter, so that I can try and improve as a player. I want to go back and get more strength in the shoulder than I had before the injury, so that I can go out there and play the way I do. I want to enjoy every game, and I can only do that if I can react instinctively to what happens on the field. That’s the way I play the game.”

“The lowest point was probably realising that it was going to be a long haul of not being able to play. It was frustrating not being able to leave the World Cup behind because I couldn’t get on the field and move away from it. I was away from the England squad during the Six Nations, and I went through a period of not really accepting it. “I hadn’t distanced myself from what was going on, to get a decent perspective on things and an idea of which direction I was going in.”

“During my time away my whole aim has been to help the guys from the sidelines, but in the background I’ve been preparing to become fitter, stronger and wiser. I want to get better each time I play, and that means I want to become a better player than what I was before the injury. “At the same time, it’s a relatively fresh start for me. I’ve been out a long time and I want to come back and earn my place in the team, as well as earning the respect of my team-mates and coaches again just like any other player coming into the squad. “I’m just happy to be back in one sense, but I’ve now got to go back and show it on the field. I’m keen to do that, but I’m going to have to find my way around from game one. “The aim is to come back better, but I can’t predict the future. I’m starting off with a fairly blank sheet of paper, and I’ve just got to go out there and put into practice what I’ve been doing in training.”

“I want to enjoy playing with a great squad and see where it takes us,” he says. “The ambition in myself and in everyone at this club is fantastic. That’s one of the main attractions of being here. People want to go out and play great rugby. The ethics in training and the ethics in the way the boys look after themselves is outstanding. “The set-up as a club at the moment is brilliant. Now we have to learn to play together as a team, and I’ll learn from each game along with the other guys.”

“The World Cup was fantastic, but that’s gone now. The World Cup was a tick in a box, and an ambition accomplished, but there’ll be another World Cup in 2007, and Lions tours to get on.”  “As you continue to play and put yourself on to the field under pressure to perform for your team, that just takes over from what you’ve done before. “Newcastle are in the Premiership and the Heineken Cup now, so we have all these things to fight for.”

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