After reaching career best form in 2014, a season-ending ankle injury midway through the 2015 season couldn’t have come at a worse time for Mick Snowden.

The 27-year old Tamworth boy had been released by the Western Force a year earlier but looked to have put all that behind him when injury struck.

“It’s been a pretty crappy year to be honest, watching the (Eastwood) boys win from the sideline was really tough,” Snowden told Rugby News.

“But I think the worst one I had all year was sitting at home watching the (NSW Country) Eagles game up in Tamworth. Missing out on playing an NRC match at my old club was a real kick in the guts.”

But sometimes the rugby gods like to square things up and that’s exactly what they’ve done for Mick Snowden.

The Rebels today announced that Snowden would join their Extended Playing Squad in 2016, handing the halfback a second chance at his Super Rugby dream.

“I’d been speaking to them on and off over the last few months, but nothing was set in concrete, so I’m really excited to get another crack,” he said.

Snowden earned five Super Rugby caps during his one season in Perth, but admitted he wasn’t ready at that point to play at that level.

“It really took me some time to get used to the day-to-day training, when I went to the Force it was a bit of a shock because I’d never done anything like that.

“Hopefully now, having done it before, I’ll be able to slide straight in and get going.”

Snowden will compete against Nic Stirzaker and Ben Meehan for the Rebels No.9 jersey, but said his main focus was getting his body right after almost six months on the sideline.

“I haven’t really thought past just getting back on the field and playing football. I’ll take it one step at a time, get running again, then playing, then I’ll worry about all that after that.”

At 27, Snowden will be one of the older members of the young Rebels program, but said he had no issue with trying to work his way up the pecking order.

“You obviously want game time. No one likes training just to sit in the stands and watch the games,” he said.

“There are a lot of kids down there that did well in the Shute Shield, but then after going down to Melbourne, their game improved leaps and bounds.

“Jack Debreceni was a good Shute Shield player when he got picked up but he went down to the Rebels and really excelled. You only hear positive things about the coaching staff down there, so I really can’t wait to get involved.”

Whilst Snowden said he was upset to be leaving his club side Eastwood, he said the two-time reigning premiers couldn’t be in better shape.

“It was one of the best years the club has ever had. Unfortunately the colts didn’t go as well as they could have, because we probably would have come real close to winning that club championships.

“The majority of the team is hanging around for next year, so we should be able to hold together the same side and hopefully be in a good position to win three (Shute Shield premierships) in a row.”

But for now, his attention is focussed on his recovery and the 2016 Super Rugby season where the young Rebels will look to finally fulfil their potential in the newly structured competition.

“I’ve read how the conferences work, but it still takes a bit to understand. Looking at some of the guys at Melbourne, they’ll definitely be up there and good enough to give it a real shake.”