Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker is eyeing off a shock round one return from offseason shoulder surgery, which left him bound in a sling for almost two months following the club's preliminary final loss last year.
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The 30-year-old will meet with his surgeon in early March to assess how far ahead he is of schedule in his recovery, and whether round one's season opener against the Wests Tigers is a viable option.
Croker underwent the knife in late October to repair the damaged rotator cuff he'd been playing with during the latter stages of last season.
Surgeons were also required to reattach his bicep during the procedure, which usually carries a five-month recovery period.
Canberra coaching staff had been hopeful their captain would be set to return as early as round four, but Croker refuses to rule out an earlier comeback.
"I haven't seen the surgeon since I took the sling off in December - he could tell me six weeks or he could tell me I'm right to go," Croker said.
"I'm just preparing to be as strong as I can and as good as I can for when I see him. My feeling hasn't changed that I want to be back as soon as possible which would be first game."
Croker injured his shoulder in round 17 against the Roosters and played through the pain during the Raiders' remarkable run to the preliminary final.
He aggravated it early on in Canberra's 30-10 preliminary final loss to the Storm, and was told by a doctor four days after their season ended that his shoulder would require a reconstruction.
Weeks of sleeping on his back in a recliner followed before Croker came out of the sling in December and began rehabilitating his shoulder.
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"You're literally sleeping for six weeks on your back - your arm's in an upright position, you wake up and your whole hand and arm's numb because you haven't moved it, all the blood's gone out of it," Croker said.
"It was a pain in the arse to be honest but the worst part was at the time, Rory was four or five months old, and I couldn't help my missus at all. "She's got to help me take my sling off, and get me in the shower so I can wash myself as well as having a newborn. Once I got out of the sling and was able to pick thinks up and move, change nappies and all that, it probably eased up on her a little bit as well so I felt sorry for Brittney more than myself.
"When you get a knee or an ankle you can sort of manage to get around, if you've got a brace or crutches you can still move a bit. When it's your shoulder you're limited to any sort of upper body movement."
Croker said recovering from the biceps tendon injury had been the toughest part of his rehab. "With the weights and things I've been doing, that's where the most pain is in the bicep tendon, the shoulder itself has been pretty good." Croker said.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
