Former Raiders ironman Shaun Fensom will return to the rugby league circle on Saturday - this time to "have a bit of fun" and spend some quality time with his family.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The retired NRL star lines up for the Belconnen United Sharks with Fensom keen to help the club as it chases their first finals appearance since re-entering the Canberra Raiders Cup in 2016.
Fensom is excited to lace up the boots once again but also pass on his admired NRL experience to some of the younger players of the club.
"I'm looking to have a bit of fun and pass on a bit of knowledge to some of the younger players who want to learn," Fensom said.
"Although, the big thing for me is just having fun and taking my family to the games each week.
"Canberra has got good suburban grounds where the kids can play and have a run around on the sideline, that's what I'm looking forward to the most."
Fensom is also finishing off his carpentry apprenticeship which made the move to Canberra all that much easier, to take a break from being a professional athlete and spend some down-time with his family.
"My footy career was a good ride and I had a lot of fun but definitely now family comes first," Fensom said.
The 32 year-old believes he's still got a lot of gas left in the tank as he faces a quality Queanbeyan Blues outfit this Saturday at Seiffert Oval.
"I'm ready to go. I've had 12 months off, I didn't run, I didn't touch a weight, I'm feeling good and feeling rejuvenated," Fensom said.
"We're looking good. It will be a good test this weekend against the Blues, they're the front runners each year so it will give us a good gauge of how we are going."
Fensom also touched on how refreshed he felt going into this year's pre-season with the Sharks after not playing a game of rugby league last year due to COVID-19.
"It was a good break to just get away from everything, mentally as well, training every day for so many years. It gets a bit mundane," Fensom said.
"It was good to just have a break and not think about footy at all and just get out there and enjoy some other stuff."
Fensom played 139 matches in eight seasons for the Raiders, but the lingering memory most fans have of his NRL journey was the horrific double leg break he suffered for the North Queensland Cowboys just three minutes into the 2017 grand final.
He made a full recovery to play one more season with the Cowboys before finishing his career at the Brisbane Broncos. Fensom finished with 176 NRL caps to his name.
