Writhing in agony on the sidelines, with nightmares his career was over swirling through his mind, Isaac Henry could be forgiven for believing he was cursed.
Instead, the luckless Queensland Red is adamant his latest trial – a ruptured ACL suffered two games into his third injury comeback against the Rebels – will not break him.
Isaac Henry was injured in a match against the Melbourne Rebels last March.Credit: AFP
“I never thought I couldn’t get back to where I was, but I want to go one better. I want to be better than I was before I did it,” Henry told this masthead.
“The thoughts on the sidelines are like they were yesterday. I was contemplating retirement sitting on the green whistle with a towel over my head.
“But I draw on all those experiences. I don’t know if a lot gets to me mentally now. I’ve flipped what I used to think was a punishment, to now, where I’m actually grateful for the experience.”
Henry never suffered a serious injury before launching his Super Rugby career. He has now gone under the knife four times in four seasons, playing just 15 games.
He spent 19 of the past 24 months in rehab – his knee damage following a lengthy lay-off after hamstring surgery.
His first rehabilitation – a broken foot suffered being trampled by Ardie Savea – felt seamless.
Henry’s next two proved his greatest psychological struggle. But by his fourth, he was prepared.
“It’s an absolute arm wrestle and battle every day to try lock in mentally and get better. But I think that’s what this injury has given me: perspective,” Henry said.
“I’ve always been a guy who tends to enjoy hard things. I was pretty lucky with how I was brought up by my folks, and character is a big thing that plays a part in long-term injuries.
“Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned over the years is how to handle disappointment and frustration, and then obviously rebuild yourself to come back better.
“It’s something I pride myself on, every injury I’ve had – whilst it’s been incredibly disappointing and frustrating – I’ve made a point to come back better than I was before.
“Mentally I’ve never been stronger.”
Henry’s story is shared across sporting codes, with Brisbane Lions defender Tom Doedee tearing his ACL on the eve of what was meant to be his AFL comeback from the same injury.
For every tale of physical hardship there is one of internal anguish – a belief everything they had worked for would be taken from them.
This is a scenario NRL star Tom Gilbert also knows well.
Gilbert’s ordeal started in Game One of the 2023 State of Origin series, when he suffered a dislocated shoulder that ended his campaign.
Then, disaster struck again. A torn ACL sustained in the final 2024 preseason trial ensured the lock’s stint on the sidelines stretched to almost two years. Blood clots even delayed his surgery.
Tom Gilbert goes down in the Dolphins’
trial loss against the Warriors.Credit: Shane Wenzlick/Getty
The enormity of his situation took a significant toll on the 24-year-old.
“I questioned a lot of things – if I can ever get back to where I left off, what the future lies. Things got really tough,” Gilbert said.
“A bit of doubt can enter your mind with injuries, and I realised it was something I could control. I could control how hard I trained and how I prepared myself.
“It was tough, but I think it’s actually going to help my career. You don’t get the opportunity to sit there and reflect for a long time, and I got that opportunity.
“When the time was right I started seeing it for what it was. In the last couple of months I’ve seen it as a chance to come back a better player.”
Tom Gilbert
Henry confirmed he was on track to return in the early rounds of the Super Rugby Pacific campaign to contend with Hunter Paisami and Josh Flook for a job in the centres.
But the 25-year-old called on all sporting clubs to make in-house psychological support a necessity.
Henry said that until recent seasons, clinical psychological support had been from external professionals, before Hayley Cronin was appointed the Reds’ head of psychology.
And he believed having that support would prove the difference between teams fighting to stay alive and achieving greatness.
“Sometimes those conversations can actually be the difference,” Henry said.
“[Cronin] has been incredibly helpful, and for a lot of the boys too, for performance and being mentally ready for games, and the ability to overcome setbacks.
“I really think it’s super important for players at the elite level to have that next step. You get to this stage where everyone is physically gifted and have done a fair bit of work to get to this point.
“It’s pretty niche, not a lot of teams would have a head psychologist. It’s been immense.”
