RUGBY league players go through the mill when they take to the field with injuries often part and parcel of the sport.
But sometimes some injuries can make people wince with how serious they are – and one such injury is that one suffered by Hull KR forward James Batchelor.
Batchelor missed out a chunk of July due to damaging his vocal chords during a tackle in a Super League fixture in late June.
It’s been a steady rate of recovery for the 27-year-old, with Batchelor having to regain his voice in the process in what was an obviously scary period of time.
Now the back-rower has reflected on the injury and how it has affected his playing.
“It’s healed well, but my voice is still not quite there yet,” Batchelor explained.
“It can get croakier and quieter after games and training but we are trying to get it back to the best that it can though it is a lot better than it was.
“Initially I sounded like Shaun Kenny-Dowall’s twin! Sometimes it goes a bit quiet and people struggle to hear me on the pitch but I still shout as best I can!”
Batchelor said of his recovery: “I wasn’t allowed to do any contact in case it displaced the fracture and it could have caused further complications.
“I could do skill sets but I had a bib on during training warning people not to tackle me too hard! It wasn’t too bad but being able to train almost made it more frustrating.
“I couldn’t really feel the injury, it wasn’t like injuring your ankle or knee but I just wanted to be out there.
“Ultimately it was up to the medical staff to hold me back until I was right.”