Titans playmaker Tyrone Roberts did not have an achilles heel in the 2019 season. He had two of them.
The talented Roberts had a solid season for the Titans, marked most notably by his ascension to the team captaincy for 11 games in the absence of the injured Ryan James.
But his season was book-ended by achilles injuries to each leg.
The first – a grade-2 tear of his right achilles – saw his season stall on the starting line just 12 minutes into the opening game of the year against Canberra.
The second, a lingering strain to his left achilles, ended his season in Round 19.
But after working hard with the Titans’ medical and high-performance staff at the end of the season, and over the end-of-year break, Roberts is back to full running and throwing himself into preparations for 2020.
“It was the right one that I tore – I actually had a grade-2 tear in the right one. But it is the left one that is the one with the issue,” Roberts said.
“It is just a bit of foot mechanics. I’ve gotten used to it now, and I’m back to full running so it is good.
“It just crept up on me, and took a while to come back.
“It is all foot mechanics, and the physio Angie (Flack) has done a great job with it. She has given me some stuff to work on – some isometric stuff – and that is coming along good.”
After a disappointing 2019, Roberts is hoping a better run with injuries – personally and for the team as a whole – will lead to better continuity and better results under new Head Coach Justin Holbrook.
“I played in the halves pretty much the whole time, but we had different halves (combinations) because Ash (Taylor) was out.
“We had Riley (Jacks), AJ (Brimson) – but also different backrowers as well. You’ve got to have that connection.
“If you are swapping and changing, it is hard to get your rhythm. But we have got two months or three months to sort that out.”
