And his hours of lonely, hard work in the capital paid off when Edmonds officially signed a three-year deal with English club Gloucester last week.

Edmonds will leave Canberra in June to resume his career after being on the sideline since May last year when he fractured his foot playing for the Brumbies.

The injury crippled his hopes of being included in the Wallabies' World Cup campaign and cost him a contract with Saracens in England.

But after what Edmonds describes as the ''worst period of my career'', the four-Test Wallabies rake hoped he could recapture his best form and finish his career on a high.

''Of course you worry about getting back to that form after not playing for a year and a bit,'' Edmonds said.

''But I've been working hard and I don't think it's going to be a problem for me, but it is there in the back of my mind.

''It was hard to get through, I didn't have any security with my rugby. I rolled the dice and it pretty much went downhill … but it made me look beyond my rugby career and other things available to me.''

Edmonds' decision to play again wasn't easy. When his rugby future was uncertain, he started work as a commercial real estate agent for CBRE.

When Gloucester tabled its offer, Edmonds seriously considered turning it down to officially begin life after rugby.

But at just 30 years old, he was determined not to let injuries end his playing days. After undergoing foot surgery, Edmonds also had a double shoulder reconstruction to repair a tear in his labrum and rotator cuff damage.

He has resumed full contact training with the ACT Academy squad and has been doing fitness training by himself four times a week.

To get his career back on track, Edmonds has been juggling work commitments and his rehabilitation program. But wife Annika and two-year-old daughter Mieka go to the training oval with Edmonds to add extra motivation to his comeback bid.

''I've got a young family and we're expecting our second child in the next couple of weeks and I want to be able to support them,'' Edmonds said.

''The time I went through last year was probably the worst period of my career.

''I really enjoy working at CBRE, that's something I want to do for the rest of my life and when the deal with Gloucester came I thought about [staying in Canberra].

''But I'd like to go out on my own terms and take my family overseas and it was a perfect opportunity.

''It's been tough, but my wife brings Mieka down and she rounds around with me and they time me when I'm doing my fitness.''

Gloucester's season begins in September, 16 months after Edmonds' foot injury ended his Brumbies career.