Curry: Injury has made me stronger
POWER UP TABLE
TOM Curry believes his injury problems have helped him become bigger, faster and stronger.
The Sale Sharks flanker had his Autumn International series cut short by an ankle injury he suffered in England’s opening victory over South Africa.
It meant weeks of rehab back at Sale, before he made his return in last weekend’s narrow European defeat by Bordeaux.
But as he prepares for a crucial period of the season for Sale as they return to Premiership action, and a possible Six Nations call, he believes the injury break may have done him some good.
“I’m not lucky, but I had a big injury last year so that has kind of helped me mentally in terms of preparing for this one,” he told M.E.N. Sport.
“Everybody was good in terms of thinking about what’s next, and getting my mind set into what I can do next or how I can get better.
“The physio and the staff have been huge in terms of getting me back so quickly, fair play to them, their dedication has been immense.
“I feel strong going into these next couple of games now.
“I need to focus on getting back to full match fitness, getting my ankle good. All my rehab is still going on and, hopefully, I can play week-in week-out and really push forward with Sale.
“It’s always a great opportunity when you’re not playing to get bigger, faster and stronger.”
The Sharks, who sit second from bottom of the table, have a crucial fixture against the Bristol Bears at the AJ Bell tomorrow.
And Curry hopes the team can continue to build momentum, noting that securing a solid win could see them rise dramatically up the standings.
He said: “This next game is massively important - it’s a week-by-week basis, any team at the bottom below sixth is really tight, so any win can kind of propel you right up there.
“We like to take every game as it comes.
“It’s a bit of a cliché but there’s a big focus on treating every game as if it’s your final.”
Tom and Ben Curry are one of three sets of brothers in the Sale squad alongside Sam and Luke James, and new arrivals, Rob and Jean-Luc Du Preez. And Tom considers the sibling relationships can only benefit the Sharks.
He said: “I think naturally if you do have brothers in the team it does help, just having people in closer relationships does help massively.
“I’ve been playing with Ben for about 17 years now and you obviously know each others game inside out and I assume it’s the same for the other brothers. It’s a close team anyway so to have three sets of brothers does increase that tightness on and off the field.”