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Warrington Wolves’ Joe Philbin opens up on his fight to fitness after ACL hell
Ex-Great Britain prop, 28, is nearly a year on since the injury but he’s come back firing better than ever for a Warrington team looking to put their Challenge Cup heartache behind them
After spending most of the last 12 months battling the injury every player dreads, you won’t find Warrington’s Joe Philbin moping.
Humiliated Wolves were dumped out of the Challenge Cup by 12-men Wigan on Sunday. And they have lost three of their last four games to leave expectant fans fuming again. But robust ex-Great Britain prop Philbin, 28, will fire into Castleford on Friday night knowing just how far he has come.
Saturday marks one year since he ruptured his ACL against Hull and started the long road to recovery from one of the most serious injuries a player can face. Philbin made his long-awaited return in March and, thankfully, quickly set about packing a punch off the bench again with his no-nonsense style. He admitted: “I looked at the positives and I have been happy with how I’ve come back.
“I told myself that is how I would come back. I like to think I’ve got a positive mindset and I’ve borne the fruits of that. Obviously I’m gutted with how it went against Wigan but the bigger picture is coming back from that ACL and I am pleased with it.”
Philbin, who has played almost 200 games for his hometown club and represented the 2019 Lions tourists, had an unlikely inspiration for his recovery. He continued: “The ACL is probably the most feared injury. I know before I got it I always thought ‘jeez, I wouldn’t want to do that.’ Then when you do, you do some research on those who have come back and there’s people who have come back really healthy.
“Right now, medicine has advanced so much. I remember the night I did mine, I saw the Arsenal player Hector Bellerin was documenting his own return from an ACL and I watched his full eight-part documentary all in that night. I just wanted to get myself ready for what I’d need to go through. And after I watched that I saw it as a challenge. I looked forward to it and got myself into some good shape. I did a lot of work with the fitness coaches and that’s important for my body style.”
As bad as mistake-ridden Warrington were against Wigan, Philbin reckons they can get back firing like the side that started off the season with an eight-match winning run. He conceded: “We’ve been pretty poor for quite a while now so you can feel like we’re down and out.
“But you look at the league table and we’re joint top (with Catalans) on points difference. We just need to regroup, get ourselves together, attack and go all guns blazing in Super League now.”
