Jawai vows to come back even stronger
SIDELINED Snake Nate Jawai has promised to come back fitter and stronger than ever following his foot surgery and lead Cairns towards a playoff push in 2018.
Jawai will have surgery next week after he suffered a partial tear of a ligament in his left foot, with an expected recovery time of 12 weeks, ruling him out of any NBL games until the middle of January.
It has been a torrid past 18 months for the former NBA big man, including operations on his finger, shoulder and now foot, since he returned to the Far North from the Perth Wildcats.
The father of two is “disappointed” to be sidelined for the third time in two seasons and admits he will get “emotional” watching Cairns games without being able to contribute for the rest of the year.
After off-season shoulder surgery, the Boomer worked tirelessly to return in outstanding physical shape, only to suffer his foot fracture inside two quarters of the new campaign.
“I worked so hard over the off-season. I felt great and my body felt great too,” Jawai said.
“I was confident I was heading towards a great season.
“You cannot control injuries and the only thing I can control now is working to get back healthy and aim to be better than what I was coming into this season.
“I want to come back stronger again.
“It is going to be a tough 12 weeks, that is for sure, but I am looking forward to the challenge.”
The 31-year-old was heartened by his teammates and Taipans fans reaching out to him this week to wish him well on his recovery.
The club will set a plan which will include rehabilitation training such as swimming, boxing, lifting weights, rowing and cycling, but nothing that puts weight on the foot, to see Jawai return ahead of schedule.
Jawai is an ambassador for the Cairns Taipans Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Initiative, an expansion of the club’s existing indigenous program, run in conjunction with the State Government, and hopes to throw himself into that over the next three months.
“That is going to be a focus of mine,” Jawai said.
“When the team goes away on road trips, hopefully we can take a trip to Yarrabah, up to the Torres Strait or maybe Bamaga.
“It will help get my mind off basketball and spread what is important.
“But I really need to focus on my rehab as well.”