Sydney FC’s Rhyan Grant making strong comeback from injury
JUST like the surfing session gone wrong that broke his arm, Rhyan Grant’s long-haul knee rehab has been “a bit of a punish”.
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JUST like the surfing session gone wrong that broke his arm, Rhyan Grant’s long-haul knee rehab has been “a bit of a punish”.
But the Sydney FC right-back is finally back on track to better the best season of his career after making his competitive return in Tuesday night’s FFA Cup round-of-16 win.
Grant’s 85 minutes against Cairns FC were his first since the Sky Blues’ 2016-17 A-League grand final victory, and a significant step up from last week’s 45-minute cameo in a friendly against Brisbane Roar.
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“It was good to get back out there,” Grant said.
“The body felt really good. I was a bit rusty and a little bit off the pace, but I think that’s to be expected first game back.”
It’s been a long 16 months too.
After rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament, the 27-year-old spent an entire campaign recovering from the subsequent knee reconstruction.
Then, in this off-season, he fractured his ulna while surfing at his local Collaroy beach.
“It was pretty big swell.” Grant said.
“There’s a big sewage pipe that goes out 30-odd metres and I got swept into that and whacked my arm. It was pretty hectic, a bit of a kook move from me, but what can you do.
“I bit off a bit more than I could chew given the size of the swell. It was huge, the biggest I’ve been out in.
“I’m not a great surfer anyway and it was just sketchy.”
A splint helped the bone heal and Grant wraps his arm for protection while playing.
Still, the mishap was nothing compared to the arduous isolation of rehab, a feeling all too familiar given he’d done his other ACL four years ago.
“It is a bit of a punish, it’s such a long way back and takes a lot of time,” he said.
“Once I got my head around it - and I’d done it before - I knew what to expect, which is good and bad.
“You’re still around the boys even though you’re not directly training with them.
“It’s just a mental battle with yourself to get it done and make sure it’s all hunky dory before you get back out there.”
Reigning FFA Cup champions Sydney dodged disaster in far north Queensland, scraping a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over their NPL foes thanks to an Alex Brosque penalty and Trent Buhagiar winner.
“It was a bit of a wake-up call that early goal we conceded,” Grant said.
“In saying that, we actually played quite well to our structure.
“We obviously dominated the game and created a lot of chances, but it was just one of those nights where we weren’t finishing our chances and scoring goals which we’re normally pretty good at.”
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