Retallick returns for must-win Chiefs match
INJURY UPDATE: The Chiefs received some much-needed good news ahead of their final round-robin Super Rugby showdown with Rebels on Friday.
The Chiefs’ trip to Melbourne has been boosted with the news of All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick.
The 28-year-old is set return to actions after recovering from a wrist injury he sustained during the side’s Round Nine victory over the Blues in Hamilton on April 13.
The lock has been sidelined for the past two months.
Despite lack of game time, the lock revealed to Stuff, that he is keen to get back on the pitch.
“It’s been a long eight weeks. I’m definitely excited to get back out there against the Rebels,” Rettalick told Stuff after the training session.
“It was quite tough watching, especially if we didn’t get the result.
“I went and saw a hand therapist and got a bit of an idea, she sent me to a specialist and the specialist said it’d be eight weeks for the tendon to grow where there was a tear.
“So it was always going to be eight weeks. Obviously, last week with the bye was kind of bad timing, because that was the eighth week, I would have been able to play then. But it’s given it another week to make sure it is right.”
Retallick admitted the eight-week rest has done his body well, which is certainly good news for the All Blacks ahead of the World Cup in September.
“The eight weeks I used pretty well and got extremely fit and could kind of mentally check out, so I’ve tried to use it as best I could,” he said.
“[It] has kind of been good in hindsight, especially around my fitness and my body and stuff like that. I don’t think fitness should be an issue, thanks to the trainers here, I’ve just been running up and down the sideline,”
Aside from Retallick’s return, All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has the likes of Sam Cane, Dane Coles and Kieran Read back in actions.
Source: Stuff
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