Player injury diary: Jack Wright

The Queensland Rugby League’s player injury diary, presented by TPIL Lawyers, provides greater insight into how our Hostplus Cup and BMD Premiership athletes return from injury and how they overcome the physical and mental challenges that can come with being sidelined.

This week, Norths Devils playmaker Jack Wright shares his story on his nervous wait earlier this year after he suffered a knee injury that could have ended his 2024 season.

Player injury diary: Jack Wright

When I came to the Norths Devils at the start of the year, I was chasing a fresh start.

Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, I had always wanted to play for the Falcons and I had the chance to do just that. I played in Colts and three years of Cup but after the end of last season, I knew I needed to do something different and get out of my comfort zone.

The Devils has been exactly that for me so far this year – a new challenge.

I had a chance to mostly play as a starting half alongside Gerome Burns, until I suffered an injury midway through the season.

I originally hurt my knee at the end of last year, playing for the Falcons against Tweed.

We didn’t think too much of it at the time – just thought it was some swelling on my knee.

Across the whole off-season I tried to rest it as much as possible and while it would flare up at training every now and then and could be a little bit sore, it wasn’t too bad to play with this year.

But then against Townsville in Round 10, I felt it get twisted again in a tackle.

When it first happened, I sort of thought nothing of it. I had all the adrenaline of the game to push me through and there was only 10 minutes left anyway.

But the next week at training, I knew it wasn’t very good. I was a bit iffy about playing Ipswich the week after but I came off the bench and was limping a bit the whole game.

After that game I said there was something definitely wrong and so I went and saw a surgeon and he said I tore my meniscus.

He said I could either try to play on it or get a surgery. I opted for the surgery.

We didn’t know how bad it was – it could have been a case of having to get it stitched, which would mean my season is over with six months recovery, or it could be a clean out, get the meniscus trimmed and be back within a few weeks.

Not knowing beforehand was actually pretty hectic.

I remember I woke up and was still under the influence of the drugs and I kept asking the nurse over and over what happened.

Luckily for me, it was the clean out and the trim and I’d be back this year. But after about the sixth time asking the nurse, she was definitely looking at me like, ‘what are you talking about?’.

My first two weeks of recovery there wasn’t much I could do, to be honest. It was just about trying to stay positive and resting the knee as much as possible.

You’re not meant to run for two weeks, which was tough for me. From the injury to the end of that two weeks post-surgery, it was actual six weeks total of not running.

It’s not real fun watching but at the same time, it was good to see the boys winning.

For me, the toughest part of the recovery has definitely been the mental battle and trying to stay positive.

The rollercoaster before my surgery was a bit wild, not knowing whether I would be playing and pretty much praying I could get back.

But on the theme of staying positive, I could be coming back hopefully this weekend through the Brisbane Rugby League.

I’m doing my most to get back out there in Cup before finals and hopefully I can cement my spot back in the squad.

The boys are playing really well so it could be hard to get back in but if I do, I’ll make the most of it.