Leeds Rhinos winger Ash Handley admitted he could not walk a few weeks ago, but that did not stop him appearing in the Grand Final.
The 26-year-old had been on the sidelines since September 3 with a fractured metatarsal.
It was expected that he would miss out on the Grand Final after missing the play-off wins away at Catalans Dragons and Wigan Warriors.
Handley says he was unable to walk properly but a boost of adrenaline after watching the Rhinos win at the DW Stadium got him focused to be ready for the big game.
“I was very close to not playing,” he admitted.
“Last week I probably couldn’t walk, but it settled down well. Probably a bit of adrenaline from the boys in the semi got me going and it felt good coming into the week.
“You don’t really feel anything in games, it’s only afterwards you start to feel it. I did a lot of sprinting in the build-up to give me some confidence and be able to play. I felt fine going into the game.”
Leeds went down 24-12 to St Helens, who made it four Grand Final titles in a row, and Handley admits they gave themselves too much to do in the end.
“It was pretty tough,” he added.
“We wanted to send the boys off who are leaving with a win but we didn’t manage to do that. Saints are a great side.
“We started slowly and they started big. They started the game and the second half well and we just left it too late to bring it back. You cannot do that against Saints.
Handley paid tribute to coach Rohan Smith, who came in and transformed a team close to the foot of the Super League ladder and turned them into Grand Finalists.
“He is a calming presence around us. It was okay not to be perfect and training changed slightly.
“He brought in different things and different ways of playing and it really suited our group, so everyone jumped on board and it brought us closer together. We have just been working hard for each other.”
Handley will now sit back and wait for the phone to ring to see whether has been selected for the World Cup to represent England.
“ I would love to play in the World Cup,” he added.
“We’ll see what’s to come. I’ve not heard anything yet; I’ll probably find out in the next week or so and I’ll take it from there.”
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