Jack’s back aiming for All Blacks — eventually
Jack Goodhue could only smile as he ran through a guard of honour at the Crusaders’ Rugby Park facility in Christchurch this month.
Flanked by his cheering teammates, some clapping, some holding their hands aloft, and others slapping him on the backside, it marked the end of a lengthy and testing 12 months for the midfielder.
‘‘That was special. It makes you feel like you’re really cared for. This team is real tight, I enjoy the company of everyone, for them to do that means a lot, we’ve both been through a long journey,’’ Goodhue said.
He was referring to flanker Sione Havili Talitui, who has also recently recovered from a lengthy stint on the sideline. Both
returned to action for Christchurch club Shirley a fortnight ago.
Now, more than a year since Goodhue wrecked his left knee after colliding with team-mate Bryn Hall while attempting to tackle Hurricanes midfielder Peter Umaga-Jensen in Wellington, the 26-year-old will make his return for the Crusaders today, against the Rebels in Melbourne.
Speaking ahead of the match, one he’ll start at second fiveeighth, the All Black admits there was a time during his rehab doubts he’d make it back bubbled.
Goodhue’s injury wasn’t an ordinary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. It wasn’t even a torn ACL with a damaged medial collateral ligament (MCL).
He wrecked both those ligaments, and his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), while also mangling his patella.
‘‘When I first got the news of how bad the injury was, there was a little bit of shock, a little bit of the unknown of how hard it was going to be to come back from this injury,’’ Goodhue said.
Having done his ACL and MCL in his right knee in 2015, he knew what it was like to grind through eight odd months of rehab.
However, with a full year of rehab ahead, on the back of further reconstructive surgery of his PCL, this was a different
story.
As head coach Scott Robertson said, there are few more serious injuries in contact sport to overcome.
‘‘Early on, when I was still in the straight leg brace, that was tough. But we started making some good progress early on in the rehab. And then there were a couple of moments when I was
like this just doesn’t seem to be getting any better, and it’s still really sore,’’ Goodhue said.
‘‘There were times when you would do a training and didn’t feel like you did anything too strenuous on it, and it would just react, it would be sore, fill up with fluid, and then you couldn’t run for a few days, sometimes a week or two.’’ But Goodhue’s desire to
return never relented. He watched on as the Crusaders won Super Rugby Aotearoa to make it five titles in as many years, before keeping an eye on the All Blacks’ mixed campaign.
It fuelled him and along with his injury, made him determined to take every game he plays and enjoy it wholeheartedly.
Goodhue played 40 minutes for Shirley and by all accounts played a big hand in keeping Crusaders team-mate and Sydenham wing Kini Naholo in check during the first half.
‘‘Now, it’s at a point where I’ve got so much confidence in the knee and it feels like a knee that can go out there and perform as well as the previous one,’’ Goodhue said.
‘‘For me, it’s just about getting back out there, doing my best.’’