RETURNING St Helens winger Leah Burke is definitely feeling the benefits of not rushing her return from a second ACL injury in the space of three years.
After making a successful comeback from her rupture at the start of the 2024 season, and going on to be the league’s top try-scorer with 28 in twelve games, she was left devastated when she suffered the same injury to the other knee during that season’s Grand Final defeat to York.
Just like the first time round, the recovery process was long but successful, and while she could have featured at the back end of last season, she bided her time and instead returned for Saints’ victory over Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup on Sunday.
“It’s just great to be back,” said Burke. “It’s been such a long time since I played in that Grand Final in October 2024.
“So after being out for that long, I’m just so ready to be back and it’s been so good having a full pre-season and actually being with the team from day one.
“I’ll definitely benefit from coming back on the back of that.
“I could have been ready and I could have played late last season but there was no point. The team were performing well and I don’t even know if I’d have got my shirt back at that point.
“I’m just really glad that I took my time and had this pre-season to feel physically and mentally ready to go again.
“The first one was tough to deal with, but I just got on with it, but then having the second one so close was even tougher.
“Being injured for such a long amount of time and knowing what was ahead that time was something I did struggle with a bit, but I also knew what I needed to do get back to where I wanted to be.
“I didn’t see it as wanting to get back play rugby, I just want to get back to enjoying everything again.
“I know for some people rupturing an ACL is a hard thing to go through, but I see it as a challenge and I always want to take a challenge on – even if it’s one like that which you don’t want – and prove to myself that I can do it.”