Gold Coast Suns AFL player Nick Holman reveals extent of back injury he played through

Nick Holman’s bruising tackles are well known throughout the AFL but the pain the Suns enforcer has felt in those crunching collisions has been a quiet battle he hopes to have overcome.

NICK Holman’s bruising tackles are well known throughout the AFL but the pain the Suns enforcer has felt in those crunching collisions has been a quiet battle he hopes to have overcome.

Holman has opened up about the stress fracture in his back that had him playing through immense pain throughout the majority of his opening two seasons at Gold Coast and the details behind the surgeries that have given him a chance to return in Round 1 of the 2020 season.

The 24-year-old said he first encountered the problem moments before the Suns historic win over Sydney at the SCG in Round 18 last year.

Giants Lachie Whitfield and the Suns Nick Holman during AFL match between the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns at Giants Stadium. Picture. Phil Hillyard

“Before the game my back was really tight,” Holman said.

“We put a heat pack on it and managed it. It was a little sore for the rest of the year but I played it out without too many dramas.

“It came good with the rest in the off-season but flared up again a couple of times in the pre-season.

“We got it scanned it showed a hot spot on my back.”

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It started a frustrating period of rehabilitation for Holman who managed 12 games straight in 2019 before the pain became too much.

Another scan revealed a fracture in his lower back, ending his season after playing all 22 games in 2018.

He was off his legs for four months but it didn’t heal. Holman had surgery to put a screw in his back in October before another one was added just over a month ago.

“It’s been frustrating,” Holman conceded.

Lachie Whitfield of the Giants and Nick Holman of the Suns contest the ball during the Round 11 AFL match between the GWS Giants and the Gold Coast Suns at the Sydney Showground Stadium in Sydney, Saturday, June 1, 2019. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)

“Bringing that tackle pressure is my natural game and my role in the team so if I’m not doing that I’m not playing my role.

“Certain movements would make it hurt, whether it was a tackle, running or landing. Other times it would feel good and it wasn’t always the fourth quarter when it would hurt. Often it was the first and then it would go away and come back.”

As bad as it got for Holman, living with former teammate Harrison Wigg, who had both his 2018 and 2019 seasons ended before they began due to injury put his own problems into perspective.

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Holman said his back was now feeling better than it ever had since joining the Suns at the end of 2017 and while Round 1 was the goal, he said it would depend on his ability to build the fitness required in time.

“I’m feeling really good. It’s probably the best I have felt since the back issues started,” Holman said.

“I started running on grass on Monday. It’s been really good to get outside and run around with the boys because you feel a bit segregated in rehab. The back is feeling good.

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“I have to do some running progressions, then speed and agility stuff and all that comes before contact.

“Hopefully I can get to Round 1. It depends on how my running is going but I hope I’m ready.

“As long as my body is ready to go and I feel comfortable that I can play my role with the team.”