IT’S BEEN “a long 12 weeks” for Sam Walters after recovering from a fractured fibula.

The Wigan Warriors forward suffered the injury back in late May during his side’s 48-0 thrashing of Catalans Dragons at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

It’s been arduous rehabilitation phase for the former Leeds Rhinos forward, but Walters made his timely return in Wigan’s 24-18 win over Warrington Wolves two weeks ago.

Now he is determined to put the injury behind him and hit the ground running to make up for lost time.

“It’s been a long 12 weeks so it was finally good to get back out there on the field,” Walters said.

“It does take a long time to recover and my partner was really good at home because when it first happened, it was gutting.

I had to realise that I would be out for a period of time which is not exactly what you want but then you have to get on with it.

“I had a ten-week timescale so I thought to myself how best can I apply myself in these ten weeks to not help out on the field but do things away from the game and training from a physical point of view to get myself in the best condition so that when I did come back I could hit the ground running.

“With a broken bone, you can’t really do much with it except to let it heal so it’s all a waiting game.

“I pulled up alright to be fair and I was playing in a different position. Now I’m looking to build on my performances to help the team.”