WATCHING Jackson Hastings go about his work since joining the Newcastle Knights, it seems hard to believe that just a few months ago he wasn't sure if he would ever play again.
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Hastings has been outstanding in steering Newcastle around the field in their first eight games of the season, and Knights fans have perhaps forgotten that in his last game for the Wests Tigers, on July 30 last year, he suffered a broken leg in a controversial hip-drop tackle that resulted in Brisbane lock Pat Carrigan being suspended for four games.
The 27-year-old halfback revealed on Wednesday the full extent of the injury, describing it as "something I'm going to have to deal with for the rest of my life".
Hastings said initially he was naive enough to think he would be back running within three months, but it was closer to five months before he took his first tentative steps back onto the training field.
"It was a bit worse than what I let people know about," he said. "There was a fair bit going on there with the foot and ankle.
"It's just been getting back, getting used to kicking, getting the [kilometres] into my legs and just being able to get across the field like I used to."
The former Sydney Roosters, Manly, Salford, Wigan, Great Britain and Tigers playmaker provided a graphic insight into the damage inflicted by Carrigan's tackle.
"I ruptured my syndesmosis completely and had a fair fracture in my leg," he recalled. "It did a bit of nerve damage, so I can't really feel the sole of my foot too much.
"It is what it is. There's been a lot of people who've been in worse situations and had worse injuries.
"It's just one I've got to deal with.
"I get on with it. I get up every morning and just do what I've got to do."
Adding to his challenge, Hastings admitted to putting on weight during his time convalescing, which he has since shed since linking with the Knights on a three-season deal.
"It was just being able to run," he said.
"I could hardly walk for two-and-a-half months and then didn't run until about four-and-a-half months ... I lost that weight pretty quickly and I'm back to the weight I need to be, to be performing at my best."
Against the Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday, Hastings is looking forward to renewing his partnership with skipper Kalyn Ponga, who has missed the past five matches since he was concussed in Newcastle's round-two win against the Tigers.
Hastings dismissed suggestions that Ponga might need to be protected in defence.
"Kalyn doesn't need protecting," Hastings said.
"If you go back and watch his Origin debut when he played in the middle, no one was protecting him then.
"He was putting people on their backside for fun ... no one in our team needs to protect him.
"He is a grown man, he can do that on his own."
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