Joe Cator opens up on his injury frustration, Jonny Lomax inspiration and a return target
Lomax #Lomax
Hull FC forward Joe Cator of hopeful of being able to hit the ground running at the start of next season as he continues his recovery from the Achilles rupture he suffered in March. After injuring his Achilles for the first time in August last year, Cator made his return to action at Headingley Stadium as the Black and Whites took on Leeds Rhinos in round five.
He impressed in the game, too, but his night was brought to an agonisingly premature end as he suffered a reoccurrence of the same injury. Cator went under the knife in the days that followed and he is now almost three months into his recovery.
The loose-forward has a long way to go, of course, and he won’t be seen again this season as he works his way through an arduous rehabilitation process. Cator, though, has his mind set on starring from round one next year.
Read more: Gareth Ellis discusses his coaching future and why he rejected Wigan Warriors and St Helens to join Hull FC
“It’s slow and steady which is what an Achilles injury is,” the 23-year-old told Sky Sports. “You can’t really skip any phases and you need to make sure everything is right.
“This time around we’re getting plenty of MRI scans along the way just to make sure it’s going right and it’s going smoothly and we’re not guessing through each stage. I’m very confident, hopeful and working hard, harder than I have before, to make sure when I am back, I hit the ground running.
“I’m aiming for round one of next season, I suppose the benefit of the injury and when I had it is that it’s going to be 10 months to round one, so it gives me a lot of time and a full pre-season.”
Recalling the night he suffered the injury for the second time, he added: “It is a pretty tough time to think about. I experienced coming back onto the field and it was a feeling I’d probably never had before because I’d never been out with a long-term injury.
“To come back and to get to half-time, my adrenaline was pumping and I was feeling great, I’d probably never felt like that before, just to be back with the boys and to be back in the mix. It was an unreal feeling and that’s something that’s driving me on to get back to that because I know how good the feeling was.
“With an Achilles injury, it’s never going to feel 100 per cent in the first game, I was trying to take the rough with the smooth but I was playing well and everything was going well. It’s just unfortunate but hopefully it’s something I never have to experience again.”
Recovery processes can be emotionally draining as well as physically and Cator admits it has been tough to come to terms with the injury. However, he is drawing inspiration from St Helens and England half-back Jonny Lomax, who was forced to deal with back-to-back career-threatening knee injuries earlier in his career.
“I’ve struggled to be honest,” Cator said. “The first two or three months of the injury have been tough, there’s been hard times and low times but there’s also been good times, as well. It will only put me in good stead for the career I have after this and it will make me a better player and better person for it.
“There’s very, very good players that have come back from re-ruptures and repeated injuries, Jonny Lomax was nice enough to reach out to me and send me a text to put things into perspective. He’s done it, he’s had two knee reconstructions, so why can’t I do it? I’m confident that I will and when it gets to round one I’ll make sure that I’m ready and raring to go.”