WHEN you've already spent a year waiting to get back out on the pitch, a few more months should be a breeze.
Not for Joe Cobden. The close season has barely begun and already the Nottingham Rugby centre is eager for it to be over with.
It is understandable. A long lay-off ended with a brief cameo in 2013/14 – something Cobden is desperate to make up for next time out.
Last April, the 22-year-old suffered a serious knee ligament injury. Extensive surgery was required, as was a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
He made his comeback with two games of the Green and Whites' campaign remaining, though lasted just 45 minutes before pulling up with cramp.
A rib problem kept him out for the final two weekends, leaving Cobden hungry to get going again.
"It was very frustrating. It was good to be back playing, but then I had to sit out the following weekend, which wasn't nice," he said.
"It was weird coming back for one game, then in two games' time it's all over again.
"I'm looking forward to next season.
"It's going to be nice to get a run of games under my belt and hopefully do well for the team. Hopefully we can have a good year.
"To have to sit out for so long has been very frustrating.
"That's why I'm doing it; I want to play rugby.
"I was meant to be back about a month before but pulled my hamstring.
"It's just taken a long time.
"It's weird; you do get your head round it after a while and you sort of get used to the fact you're not playing.
"But when you're watching the boys play, you just want to be out there helping them. You want to be on the pitch and training.
"Being in the gym the whole time, it can get pretty boring and a bit lonely at times.
"You want to be with the boys and you kind of feel like you're missing out a bit because you're just on your own programme the whole time."
Cobden will have his own special programme again over the summer.
Although his knee is 'fine', his hamstring is a different matter.
"I'll have to do things differently to the other lads because, for my knee graft, they took some of my hamstring to make the new ligament," the Leicester Tigers Academy product explained.
"It means my hamstring is a lot weaker than normal, so I've got to do extra work on it to build up the strength.
"I'm going to have to do a lot of that and keep on top of it over the summer so my hamstring doesn't get weaker.
"When I was meant to come back about a month before I did, that's why I didn't, because I pulled my hamstring because it's a lot weaker than normal.
"It's not going to be an issue, as long as I stay on top of it.
"It's still slightly weaker but it's at the level now where it's OK, I just need to keep on top of it and it will be fine."
The season ended with Nottingham tenth in the Championship.
A battle against relegation wasn't quite what they'd hoped for, but the belief is they will improve next term.
"It's been frustrating to watch and not be involved because you feel like you could help them," Cobden reflected in a chat with the Post.
"We've obviously had a bit of a tough year, but watching the boys in training and playing, it's not been due to a lack of effort; we've just been a bit unfortunate at times and had a lot of injuries.
"We've got some very good players here, we've just been a bit unfortunate this year.
"I think it's looking very positive for next year.
"You've got to remember, we're still a very young team as well. The longer we play together, we're going to gel more as a team."
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