A badge of honour for broken players

Strapping tape and Deep Heat – there’s nothing glamorous about the life of a club rugby player in New Zealand.

Playing, or rather struggling, through injury is as much a part of the game as the halftime oranges or post-match beers.

For every Beauden Barrett who leaves the field in pristine condition, there’s a bloke limping off with an arm in a makeshift sling and a plastic bag full of half-melted ice strapped to their hamstring.

Club rugby is a battleground where every season, despite what we tell loved ones, the same group inevitably return.

‘‘One last season’’, the famous words uttered every pre-season.

Shoulder surgery, tendonitis and too many concussions to count are just some of the injuries that spring to mind for this reporter’s medical files.

But there’s beauty in the struggle. Every week, rugby is the last thing a lot of club players want to do. However, come Friday that itch returns.

Players tell themselves: ‘‘Oh, the body actually isn’t too bad, really.’’

Which is, of course, a lie. But it’s one you tell yourself to chase that feeling. The feeling of turning up two hours early to sit around and tell a few lies with your team-mates, as you down a handful of painkillers. That feeling of running out alongside mates you know are hurting just as much as you.

Mateship in a footy club is different. And knowing the bloke next to you is in just as much pain makes it all the more easier to turn up to work on a Monday.