Kiwi star says next six months is the most important of his career

DEAN Whare is facing the most important six months of his career as he looks to earn another contract with Penrith.

Dean Whare with young fans (left) Lucas Elliott 5, Lachlan Elliott 7, Kaitlin Hearn 8 and Lachlan Hearne 7.

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DEAN Whare is facing the most important six months of his career as he looks to earn another contract with Penrith.

Whare has virtually finished his recovery from a serious knee injury suffered at training in April and will play in the trial matches early next year.

The Test centre told Penrith supporters not to listen to news that he may be keen to go back to Manly in 2018.

Fans listen to Gus Gould doing some player interviews at the recent fan day where Dean Whare said he wanted to remain at the club.

“It’s only a rumour,” he said.

“I’m committed to the Panthers for next season and I’d like to be here for the rest of my career. I’ve been here for five years and haven’t wanted to leave.

“In two weeks I’ll be back to 100 per cent and I’ll be playing the trials. I’m dying to get out there.

“It’s one of the most important times of my life.

“I’m coming towards the back end of my career and I want to secure a contract and play good footy.”

The combination of playing for a contract and coming back from a serious knee injury is at the forefront of Whare’s mind and he knows he has to return to career-best form to stay at Penrith.

Peter Wallace has a chat with Phil Gould at the Penrith Christmas party.

The procedure he had on his busted knee was the same as Josh Mansour’s cadaver surgery.

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It’s called an allograft – a rare procedure which involves taking the tendon from a deceased donor and transplanting it into another person’s injured knee.

“I’m 100 per cent mentally there now. It’s just about getting the kilometres in my legs and having some good contact sessions,” Whare said.

“The speed is still there. I’ve done some testing in the past few weeks with the GPS and I’m back to where I was.”