Physio Greg should stick to the day job; SECOND THOUGHTS In association with the Laura Crane Trust

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Feb 23, 2008

HI, Andy here.

Well, after another tough game thisweek I'm sure I wasn't the only one of the boys who was feeling pretty sore the day after.

In fact, the days following games are spent getting sore limbs moving, so we are ready for next week's game.

This is usually low-impact exercise like swimming, which usually does the trick, so by midweek the body is ready for somemore hard work.

Being a professional sportsman I fully understand keeping fit and healthy is one of the biggest challenges the competitive season brings.

And although many sports are considered to have contact in them, such as football and boxing, rugby league is probably more accurately described as a 'collision sport', which takes contact sport to another level.

This is an appropriate description when you consider that on the weekend the Galpharm Stadium will see 100kg-plus blokes colliding at speed for 80 minutes.

There aren't many tougher sports than ours, which means injuries are unfortunately part of the game.

It therefore follows that the teams which remain relatively injury-free are those that excel in competition.

Last year Salford struggled with injuries all year and were unfortunately relegated at the end of the season.

This year it appears to be Hull FC's turn to have to deal with a catalogue of injuries, almost before the season has begun.

So, considering what happens in a game of rugby league, it is surprising that there aren't more injuries.

This is testament to the durability of rugby league players, the condition the coaching staff get the players into and the work of the physiotherapy team who get the players onto the field week in, week out.

The physio team down at Huddersfield Giants is made up of head physio Gary Slade and rehabilitation conditioner Greg Brown.

People often ask about Greg, wondering what his role in the team is.

After all, he is pretty recognisable being the Evander Holyfield look-alike on the sidelines on match days, usually wearing a t-shirt a few sizes too small!

But, in all seriousness and bearing in mind what we have just said about the importance of a healthy squad, Greg's role is crucial.

Greg looks after any players who are injured and are unable to take part in normal training, making sure they are up to speed when they do start training with the full squad.

Currently he is busy with Martin Aspinwall and David Hodgson, making sure they get back as soon as possible from their knee injuries.

Although it may sound like fun to have your own personal trainer ensuring you get back to full fitness, anyone who has been injured and had to do his fitness programmes can tell you it's not fun at all.

I've been lucky enough to avoidmajor injury during my time at the Giants and, from what I've seen, Greg's sessions look like torture!

Having said all this, Greg get results, a prime example being that Tom Hemingway is playing today at Laund Hill for the Reserves, almost a month earlier than expected after shoulder surgery.

So, get down to the under 21s game this weekend to see Greg's results in action!

Even though Greg is a proven expert at rehabilitating injured players, Jammer informs me his skills on the Playstation 3 definitely need some work.

Apparently he lost every game he had with Jammer (Jamahl Lolesi), Fatz (Paul Whatuira) and George (Gatis) at their place during a recent tournament.

Definitely a case of needing to stick to the day job!

CAPTION(S):

WELCOME RETURN: it's great to see Tom Hemingway returning to action following shoulder surgery a month ahead of schedule; Separated at birth? SPORTING LEGENDS!: Giants physio Greg Brown (left) and former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield. Or should that be the other way round?