Bitter? No way. Ben Hyne is simply thankful for his rugby opportunities, even if it's taken five seasons of injury woes and a worldwide pandemic to land him back in Canberra again.
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That's why the ACT Brumbies recruit was smiling on his return to training in the capital after the Japan Sunwolves' demise opened another door for his career.
"I guess it worked out for the both of us," Hyne said. "I couldn't believe it when I'd been out of the game for two years, then I get back on my feet and played two games, then the whole word stopped.
"Not much has changed around here. They've been looking after me ... my headspace has stayed quite solid through it all. To be able to get back out there in a Brumbies jersey, I think I owe it to the club."
The Brumbies moved quickly to recruit Hyne as injury cover from Caderyn Neville, who is expected to miss at least a month of the rebooted competition when it begins on July 3.
They unveiled him as a new recruit on Tuesday, but it was more like a homecoming giving Hyne spent four seasons in the capital from 2016-19.
His time, though, was plagued by injury woes. He busted his ankle minutes into his debut match and missed the rest of the 2016 campaign, added four caps to his tally in 2017 and then needed two knee reconstructions which ruined his 2018 and 2019 plans.
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The Brumbies made the tough call to let Hyne go at the end of last year, even though they valued his potential. "That's just business. I had a run of injuries, so I don't blame them for letting me go. But I'd love to get out there and support the club that supported me," Hyne said.
So Hyne got a Super Rugby lifeline in Japan, joining the Sunwolves for a chance to resurrect his career in their final season in the competition. Brumbies coach Dan McKellar and a group of players sent Hyne messages of support, genuinely excited about his Japanese opportunity.
He made his comeback against the Brumbies in March and then the competition was halted by coronavirus two weeks later. When the Sunwolves were this week ruled out of an Australian domestic competition, and Neville's recovery timeframe was revealed, McKellar called Hyne with the good news.
Hyne's hoping it's the change of fortune he's been chasing after a rollercoaster ride since packing his life into his car and driving from Brisbane to Canberra for a chance five years ago.
"Dan and I have always had a good relationship. I find it easy to talk to him ... he has helped me through my rehab and everything," Hyne said.
"I haven't really thought about what happens after this. There's nothing confirmed, it's all up in the air. My contract at the moment ... I don't really have my head right around it, but it's just for the duration of the competition."
The Brumbies are set to relaunch the season with a home game against the Melbourne Rebels on the first weekend in July.
The domestic schedule is yet to be finalised or agreed to by broadcasters, but a Brumbies-Rebels showdown looms for the first post-coronavirus match.
The Brumbies snapped a four-game losing run against their Melbourne rivals earlier this year, holding on for a win at Canberra Stadium.
But all teams will start from zero again when the season relaunches and previous 2020 victories count for nothing. The Brumbies will have to find a replacement for Neville, who was looking at home in the Brumbies' second row before the competition hiatus.
He had ankle surgery and will miss at least one month of play, leaving Murray Douglas, Darcy Swain and Nick Frost to take on the second-row duties. Hyne has been recruited to add cover to the lock stocks, as well as adding another back-row option given he can also play blindside flanker and No. 8.
"My first game was against the Brumbies [in Wollongong] and I could certainly tell I'd been out of the game for two years," Hyne said. "I was blowing. But then the game after I got to play the Crusaders and they're a team I've always wanted to play.
"I loved getting back into Super Rugby. When coronavirus had set in I'd already made my comeback. So when it hit, to be a professional rugby player was still in sight and was still my job.
"Rugby was always something I was going to play. I never had thoughts to give the sport up.