Mountain with team-mates

Jules Newman

The injury was confirmed five weeks after the incident on the sevens field, when Newman mentioned the discomfort in her knee to the Kiwi Ferns physio.

Her rehab has been quicker than the average person. But she is now making up for lost time, putting everything into reaching her goals. Short-term, it’s playing in the NRLW again (no decisions have been made yet around whether the competition goes ahead or not) and long-term, it’s making the end-of-year Kiwi Ferns test against the Jillaroos.

That would be a solid lead-in to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in England.

Speaking from experience, Newman says the toughest part of rehab is the grieving process.

‘‘I got angry and upset, and started questioning my identity without sport when I got the results back. I didn’t slip into depression, like a lot of athletes tend to do, but I knew I had to start a plan to get back on track as soon as possible,’’ she says.

It’s a stark difference mentally to her first three ACL injuries. In those cases, Newman masked her emotions with drinking.

‘‘I didn’t understand how to cope with being taken off the field and I don’t think players understand their own emotional intelligence needed to help them through those periods,’’ she says.

‘‘Players need to understand the emotional rollercoaster is normal, but they also need to be aware not to live in it. Don’t set up camp in the anger and bitterness stage, because it doesn’t get you anywhere faster and it slows down the healing process.’’

Newman also believes the people you choose to surround yourself with will make or break you in the recovery process. Her Crossfit Kia Maia gym on Auckland’s North Shore, New Zealand Rugby League, and Warriors players Hale and Rota, have played a major role in her comeback.

‘‘Georgia and Krystal have eased the burden by allowing me to offload my vulnerabilities without any judgement,’’ Newman says.

Rota also opened up her home to Newman for the first week following her operation. Almost straight after surgery, Newman discharged herself from hospital so Rota could drive her to Cambridge to attend a Kiwi Ferns camp.

Newman credits her drive and motivation to a combination of her upbringing, life experience and the women in her wha¯nau.

‘‘I spend the majority of my time with mum’s side of the family who have a strong female presence,’’ says Newman, who comes from Nga¯ti Raukawa, the same iwi as dual international Honey Hireme-Smiler.

‘‘I look at the females in my family, like my grandmother, and they’ve always been fighters. They’ve fought for everything they have. They fight for us and that’s what I want to carry on – not just for my future kids, but for the younger generation coming through, especially young girls.’’

It was one of these strong wahine who offered Newman a job managing her IT business five years ago.

‘‘My aunty wanted me to work for her when I got back to Auckland from an OE in Kenya. I only had 15 bucks to my name, so I needed the money,’’ says Newman.

Although Newman knew little about IT, her aunt gave her a valuable piece of advice.

‘‘She said I’d either sink or swim. So if I try something new now, I just jump in the deep end and give it a go. How am I supposed to know what I am capable of if I don’t try?’’ she says. Just as she did when trialling for the Warriors.

Most of the decisions in Newman’s life have been spontaneous – including the idea to study psychology. Lying in bed one night, she logged into Massey University and enrolled – she’d always been fascinated by human behaviour.

She now puts her psychology degree to good use a cultural strategist with the IT firm, ‘‘looking at user behaviours within organisations in order to better implement technology’’.

Her latest jump in the deep end is launching a business with her aunt – on top of her league and work commitments.

The business concept is similar to Airbnb, but with shared working spaces.

‘‘Our thing is we really care about people,’’ Newman says. ‘‘It’s not just about helping ourselves and our family members, but helping our community – helping New Zealanders as a whole to prosper.’’

This story was originally published on Locker Room at Newsroom.co.nz, and is republished with permission.

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‘‘My knee was the size of a bowling ball at the time, but they were adamant on carrying me.’’

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