LACHLAN Fitzgibbon is a "nervous wreck" on the sidelines. He feels "every emotion in the game" and rides "all the high and the lows".
So how has it been for the Knights back-rower to watch his side fall from the top to the bottom of the NRL ladder this past six weeks?
"Tough," Fitzgibbon said ahead of likely making his return against the Cowboys.
"It definitely is tough because you can't help the boys in any situation, and especially over the last, probably month, when we've been down on confidence and things haven't been going our way; we've had a few injuries. The last thing you want is to be sitting on the sidelines feeling like you can't help the boys."
Fitzgibbon hasn't just endured the past six weeks from the stands. Cruelled by injury, the Novocastrian has been reduced to 27 games over the past two seasons.
In the past 18 months, he has been forced to have five surgeries. In late 2020, pelvic mesh was used to fix a groin issue. He then had a shoulder reconstruction to start 2021, before it needed a clean-out, likewise a knee, late last year. But Fitzgibbon went into this season ready to fire.
"It was the first time in the last couple of years I had had a full preseason and the body was feeling good," he said.
"After coming off shoulder and knee surgery in the off-season, I was feeling really fit and strong.
"We started the year so good and then against the Tigers, it was unfortunate because it was just a contact, freak injury where someone just landed on my lower leg and my MCL just gave way."
Fitzgibbon tore the medial ligament in his left knee off the bone. He needed surgery and was facing at least two months out. His injury, sustained in the Knights' last victory, came after a stellar performance in the season-opening win over the Roosters. Fitzgibbon hoped the match would be the start of an injury-free run of footy and a stepping stone to recapturing his best form.
"I was super disappointed at the time because we were playing good footy and I'd already missed a chunk of last year," the 91-game player said. "To be told I was going to miss another couple of months this year, it was pretty disappointing."
But with a resilience built from his past injuries, Fitzgibbon wasted no time feeling sorry for himself.
"I'd been through it before and knew I had to get stuck into rehab and try and get back out there as soon as possible," he said.
"People don't sort of realise, when you're in rehab you are probably working just as hard, if not harder than the main squad. You're in three or four sessions a day, plus physio treatment ... it is a 24-7 job whilst you are out.
"It is hard work, but you reap the rewards at the end."
The South Newcastle junior's efforts with the rehab staff, who have worked overtime all year, has put him ahead of his expected recovery time. It will be seven weeks since injury if he plays in Townsville, and his return couldn't be better timed given the Knights had eight first-graders out last week.
"It was going to be eight to 10 weeks, but eight is what we were aiming for. To come back in seven ... that's a credit to our medical team. They've been helping me round-the-clock. If I can get back one or two weeks early, than I feel like I've done a good job."
