Wigan Warriors: Ryan Hampshire reflects on his return to first team action

The 28-year-old rejoined Wigan Warriors during the off-season, but spent his first few months back at the club continuing his recovery from an ACL injury.

Hampshire made his first team return on Saturday afternoon, as he started in the halves in the 18-14 victory over Leeds Rhinos at Headingley.

“I was really emotional at full time and had to keep it together,” he said.

“A number of staff members here know the road I’ve been on, and they could see I was holding it all back.

“It was a relief to be back and thrown straight into the deep end- there’s not going to be many more games as intense as that.

“A few people just told me to take it all in.

“I was a little bit nervous, but the closer it got to kick off, the more it wore off.

“As soon as I got on the pitch and started to put some work in, that’s when the anxieties of everything in the past had gone.

“It was a really tough game, but it’s always special playing at Headingley.

“To come back with that performance in the second half made it special.

“I was out for 11 months, my last game was back in June, and since then I’ve had two operations.

“In November I was having complications with my knee and was really struggling to improve on my injury so I had to see the surgeon again- which knocked me back a couple more months.

“It flipped the recovery on its head and I started to see progress from there.

“It’s been tough.

“From December I didn’t really have a club. I was in Cas doing rehab but I wasn’t getting paid or anything like that, it was all off my own back.

“In January a deal came with Wigan, so I’ve been working hard from there and be patient to get back in the team.

“The physios and the conditioning staff here have been brilliant.

“It was a different type of rehab training, and the details of what needed to be done with my knee.

“They were hard days but it was all worth it.”

Hampshire made his return to action in a reserves game at the back end of April, but had to wait a bit longer before stepping into the first team.

“Having those few extra weeks training helped me to iron out the rustiness,” he added.

“I knew it would help to make me better in the long-term.

“The reserves game really helped. I’m thankful that Wakefield put a really good team out that week because they had a few big bodies that got me ready for the game on Saturday.

“My two first matches have been better than I expected.

“The players around me really helped me through the game against Leeds.

“It’s good to be alongside world class players, and your game goes up when you’re with them.

“It was my first game in nearly a year so there’s a lot of improvement in me yet.”