By Jon Geddes

WHEN powerhouse Warringah outside back Ben Woollett suffered a serious neck injury in round three of the Shute Shield there were initially fears for his rugby future.

But after a tough 10 weeks on the sideline, he has returned to the field and bolstered the Rats’ backline in the countdown to the finals.

It has also enabled Woollett to reunite with his good mate fullback Ben Marr, with whom he has developed a lethal combination over their years of playing together.     

Woollett suffered a bulging disc in his neck after a crusher-style tackle in the third game of the season against Eastwood.

“I had a bit of a scare with the neck and after I saw the doctor the scan turned out to be pretty concerning,” Woollett told Rugby News after his side scraped home with a 38-35 win over a gutsy Two Blues side at Narrabeen on Saturday.

“When I did it, it felt a little bit sore and it wasn’t until I came to training on Monday I couldn’t really feel my right arm – it suddenly came on.”

THE CAUTIOUS APPROACH  

THE doctor told Woollett he should consider the long-term situation with his body.

“I had a good few weeks off  just to see how it turned out,” he said. “I needed the nerve damage to settle down and see if was going to come good again.”

During that two and a half months out the only exercise that Woollett could do was a bit of running, which included taking on the role of team waterboy.

“I took it really slowly, you have to be cautious with that kind of stuff,” he said.

RING OF CONFIDENCE 

DESPITE the nature of his injury, Woollett never lost the passion to get back onto the field with his Rats again.

“I love being down here and hanging with my mates,” he said. “This is where I am happy.

“I still came to training and had a laugh and that made me want to do everything to get my body right and come back.”

Woollett was finally able to return as a replacement in the derby with Manly, followed with two starting games against Randwick and the Two Blues.

Those three runs have seen Woollett playing with his old confidence again and that is good news for Warringah’s premiership campaign.

“Once I got a few shots on and had a bit of contact, I’ve been happy and haven’t had any issues,” he said.   

TASTE OF THE TOP   

WOOLLETT has returned to Warringah this season a better player following his valuable stints with the Jersey Reds and Leicester Tigers clubs in Britain.

“Just being in that fulltime environment with all those resources around you and it’s Monday to Friday rugby,” he said.

“It definitely gave me exposure to a bit more professionalism and a chance to get my body in a really good place.”

And he still has ambitions to crack the next level back in Australia after being on the radar of Super teams before he left.

“That’s been my dream for the past few years, I want to do as well as I can,” he said.

“But obviously the neck injury made me think about everything, so I will take it as it comes for now.

“I want win the championship here and see what happens.”

A FINALS MESSAGE   

WHILE the Rats got a bonus point win on Saturday, the team realises there is still a lot of work to do before the finals.

Woollett said there were parts of the game against the Two Blues where the team showed real intent.

“But still there were lapses in focus or killer instinct, to put things away,” he said.

“We have to get back to a humming 80-minute performance.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead but we know we have booked a finals spot.

“And we want to make sure as a team when we come to that first week of finals we are at the top of our game.”

Rats’ coach Josh Holmes pulled no punches after the game.

“The boys have to start switching on and be ready for the finals,” he said.

“We need to be better.”