Sharks recruit Cameron McInnes says he’s not getting caught up in the hype ahead of his return to Wollongong on Thursday after he made a successful comeback from a serious knee injury on Saturday night.
McInnes ruptured his ACL early last year after announcing he was off to join Cronulla. The 28-year-old spent months in rehab trying to get his body right as he looked to pull on his new club colours in the season opener against Canberra.
But a setback just before the season started meant he needed to have minor surgery on his meniscus that was meant to keep him sidelined for a couple of games.
McInnes showed what a warrior he is to get back on the park earlier than expected, but he revealed he could have played in round 1 if he had the procedure done last year when he first realised there was a problem.
“It was more frustrating because it sort of happened around September last year, but I just didn’t notice it and then it stirred up on the eve of the trials,” McInnes said after playing 26 minutes off the bench in Cronulla’s thrilling win over Parramatta.
“That was frustrating because I know the statistics of the meniscus tearing after being stitched is one in three people. If I picked it up in September, then it would have been three or four weeks off my feet and I wouldn’t have missed any games.
“That was the thing that (annoyed me most) but I’m grateful to only miss one game, and touch wood, that’s the only one I miss all year.”
The hardworking fan favourite has spent the bulk of his career playing at hooker, but McInnes says he’s happy with his new role in the middle with Blayke Brailey in the No.9 jersey.
He spent most of the first half of Saturday’s game on the exercise bike waiting to get on the field, and when he did, he got straight back into it like he was riding, well, a bike.
“The coach told me that that would be the case and that more than likely I’d go on in the second half. Obviously, I’m taking it slowly coming back. It wasn’t easy watching, but I was really happy when my number got called out in the sxjmtzywecond half,” he said.
“It’s been a long time coming. It’s been almost 18 months since I last played footy.
“That first run was good to get out of the way, and then I felt back into it and it was like I never left after that. It was a good start, but for me, it’s just the beginning. I’ve got so much improvement in me.
“I’ve done so much training. As much as I had that little setback at the end, I did everything in pre-season. It didn’t feel like I’d been gone because you play footy at training. It would’ve been good to play trials, but that didn’t get to happen.
“To finally get to play after everything with all the setbacks was really pleasing. I had a bit of tunnel vision out there tonight, but that was to be expected. The more I play, the more I’ll start to grow and I’ll see a bit more.”
Speaking of tunnel vision, McInnes says he’s not focused on coming up against his old teammates on Thursday, and that’s because there are so many new faces at the Dragons that it feels like a different team.
We’ll have to wait until teams drop on Tuesday, but there’s a chance Zac Lomax, Cody Ramsey, Blake Lawrie, Tariq Sims and Josh Kerr will be the only players left from the last time McInnes represented the Dragons in 2020.
“The roster down there has changed so much. There are obviously some guys who I’ve played a fair bit of footy with, but they’ve got a brand new team. Footy just changes so much,” he said.
“I was at Souths in the past, and there are probably two guys left there now, and that was only six years ago. They’ve done well the first two rounds, so I’m sure it’ll be a good game. Derbies always are.
“For me, being back playing footy and trying to grow and improve and make sure that I’m adding to the team trumps any of that. It’ll be great to play against the Dragons, but it’s great to play any game for me right now.
“I was happy enough with tonight, but I’ve just got so much growth left in me for this season so I’m not really caught up in those things right now.”
