NAME: Zac Spring
POSITIONS: Centre, Wing
DATE OF BIRTH: 17-1-1995
JUNIOR CLUB: Dapto Canaries, South Tweed Bears, Cudgen Hornets
WEIGHT: 86kg HEIGHT: 183cm
COACH BEN WOOLF’S TAKE: “Zac’s a skilful outside back that can play fullback, wing or centre. He has very good ball skills, a good change of speed and can pass at top speed on the run.”
Note: Zac Spring returns to the NYC team for today’s clash with the Knights in Newcastle after being out, until a run with Tweed Colts last weekend, for three months with a spleen injury.
Q: This season has been a difficult one with injury for you, how have you managed dealing with that?
“It’s been really hard, especially because when I first got injured we didn’t think it was as serious as it ended up being. But once I understood the injury, and understood how serious it was, it became easier to accept that I was unable to play with my health the way it is.”
Your father [Peter Spring] played NRL, have you leaned on him for advice during this tough period?
“Absolutely, it’s been great having Dad to speak to during this injury, especially with his experience he can relate to missing footy games. He’s been a big help through this period and really emphasised that life isn’t all about footy and that it’s important to be doing other things. So Dad’s been a real help in keeping things in perspective.”
You’re studying exercise science at university, how do you find balancing your study with football training?
“It’s quite hard to balance footy and uni at times, but there are lots of boys balancing work and other things too. It can become hard, especially around exam time, but not being able to play and especially not having to travel with the team has given me more time to study and made uni a lot easier, which is one positive of my injury.”
