But, sometimes, the injuries make you wince – especially given the length of time it can rule a player out for.
After breaking through the Wakefield Trinity first-team in 2022 to make 24 appearances and score 19 tries, Lewis Murphy suffered a horror ACL injury in March last year – an injury which ruled him out of the entire 2023 Super League season.
As the 21-year-old sat on the sidelines and went through rehab on his own, Trinity flopped on the field, winning just four league games all year.
For Murphy, it was “the toughest year” of his life.
“It was probably the toughest year of my life going through the injury, being sat on the sidelines, being by yourself in the gym and then watching the team that you love and where you made your name and breakthrough go down and get relegated especially with Mark Applegarth – who brought me through and found me – as coach, it was tough to watch,” Murphy told League Express.
“I didn’t think it would impact me mentally because I’m quite strong mentally but it did affect me because sometimes you feel like you’re not a rugby league. You’re in the gym all the time and every day feels the same.”
So, what went wrong for Wakefield in the 2023 Super League season?
“It was a combination of several things. There was a new coach, which meant there was a lot to acclimatise to, but I still believe we had the quality of players and coach in Mark Applegarth.
“I don’t really know. Because I wasn’t on the pitch, it’s difficult to understand what’s going on. I truly don’t know.
“Mash (Mark Applegarth) was great for me; he’ll always be the guy I go back to since he taught me so much about rugby.
“He was the one who got me through the college system when I didn’t have a club and then promoted me to the first team. I will always have great recollections of him.”
Of course, Wakefield is currently in a far stronger position in the second division than in the Super League, thanks to new owner Matt Ellis, who brought in former Castleford Tigers manager Daryl Powell and an entire new coaching team.
Many new players have entered Belle Vue, which Murphy believes was necessary.
“I think it’s fantastic for the club. They will enter a new era, which was required following relegation. They needed to renovate the entire stadium.
Talking to my good friend Isaac Shaw, who still attends Wakefield and lives in the neighbourhood where I used to live, he stated everything is going great. It’s really encouraging.
Murphy signed a two-year contract with the Sydney Roosters, so his NRL career is only getting started. However, would he ever think about returning to Super League in the future?
“I have two years left on my contract here, so I haven’t really given it much thought yet.
“My main objective is to succeed in Australia and have a long career here, but if things didn’t work out, I would probably move back to Super League.”
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