St George Illawarra Dragons lock Jack de Belin remains optimistic despite suffering a scaphoid injury which will see him sidelined for at least the next four weeks.
The NSW Country Origin representative sustained the ailment to his wrist during the final week of the first phase of pre-season training and ultimately required surgery to his wrist.
De Belin admits while it is never ideal to suffer any injury he is happy the incident has occurred now and not during the new campaign proper.
“I was doing a drill the other day and I literally fell over awkwardly and stuck my wrist out,” said de Belin.
“We didn’t know what happened and the scans came back not indicating anything but it still fell funny.
“I went back for another one and this time it came back with a fractured scaphoid which required surgery.
“I expect to only be out for a month so fortunately it is a good time to do it given it is the pre-season and there will still be plenty of time to get ready for the season.
“I have been loading the legs with cardiovascular work but not able to do ball skills or wrestling but with time I will be able to ease back into both of those.
“Pre-season has been going really well for the playing group and the program has been put together by our new performance staff who have been outstanding.
“I cannot compliment them enough as it has been a lot of hard work and this break has been well-deserved.”
