For any player returning to action after a long time out, the journey can be long and hard. You need a good support team around you to help you through the dark days, and you also need a good team of medics and conditioning staff to make sure the player is fit to take to the field once again. After almost 10 months out with a knee injury, Heard returned to action on Saturday getting through the first 60 minutes of action as Rosslyn Park won 66-19. Heard was glad to get back to doing what he does best and expressed thanks to those who helped him through his road to recovery.
“I definitely wouldn’t be back playing yet if I didn’t have the people around me that have helped me over the course of the last six months, so I am very grateful for that,” Heard said.
“Paul Hatton has been really helpful, but also a special mention goes to Cal Donohoe (conditioner), Chloe Atkinson and Laura Dearnley (physios), because they have all chipped in to help me along the way.
“Saturday was a tough game against a well organised team.
“We weren’t good enough on the day and left a few chances on the field.
“I was really happy to get back out there.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel like I’d been out of the game long at all.
“It was an amazing feeling being able to get back out there with the lads but we’re disappointing as we know we are better than the performance we showed on the day.”
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