Adam Cuthbertson: Women's team is set to benefit from my injury-enforced time-out

I had an operation on Monday to repair the hand I broke against Melbourne two weeks ago today.

That went well, the surgeon says, and I am hoping to be back on the field a bit sooner than we thought initially.

The World Club Challenge was something I and all the team had been looking forward to for a long time and I’m still glad we did it, even though it didn’t end in the spirit we’d hoped with the scoreline going against us, and me, Stevie Ward and Jack Walker all getting injured.

Injuries can happen at any time and if we hadn’t gone to Melbourne we might have got hurt in another game so it’s no use blaming the Australia trip.

It’s very disappointing though, because I was looking for a big start to the season and in the first couple of games things were going pretty well for me and the team.

I got the injury a few minutes into the game, before I came off with a head knock. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but when I was on the bench getting stitched up my hand began to throb and it was hurting when I went back on.

I had to get it scanned later, but it was quite obvious it had been broken. I wanted to go back on, nobody forced me to.

Playing on didn’t make it any worse. It was a big game and you want to be out there and be amongst it. We were losing players left, right and centre and you’ve got to do what you have to do and step up for the team.

Straight afterwards I was told I’d be out for 10-12 weeks, but now I’ve had the operation I’m looking at more like six or seven. That’s not great news, but it could be much worse. I had surgery on Monday and came home on Tuesday morning. I’ve had a plate and screws put into my hand and the specialist is happy with the way everything went.

I have got my hand in a cast, but in two weeks that’ll come off and then I’ll be able to start re-habbing it.

It’s not ideal, but it is what it is. As it’s my hand – rather than a foot or leg – I can rest it and that allows it to heal quicker and I’ll also be able to keep in reasonable shape.

Our physio sat in on the operation and he said they tested it and everything should be fine once it has healed.

One thing the injury has done is let me focus on the new Rhinos women’s team, which I am coaching.

It’s an exciting time because we play our first game away to York on Sunday. The game’s at the York St John University Sports Park and it kicks-off at 1pm (weather-permitting), so if you’re in the area please come along and support the girls.

It is a big occasion. The players have put in a lot of hard work in building up to this and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all pans out.

I think having a Rhinos team is a real boost for the women’s game and I’m excited about what we could achieve this year.

It is a new team, but I’m lucky because we’ve got some real quality and experience in the side.

Lois Forsell is an England international at No9 and she had a great season last year.

Lois will be one of our captains along with Danika Priim, whose another England player.

I also have high hopes for our England full-back Charlotte Booth.

Those three have all been signed from the Women’s Super League champions Bradford Bulls, but we’ve also brought in some players who have switched codes from rugby union.

They are still learning the game, but I think they will do a good job for us and the fact we are being able to attract players from rugby proves we are doing the right things and heading in the right direction.

Finally, I want to wish Keith Galloway all the best after his retirement from top-level rugby league.

He’s had a fantastic career and he is a good bloke. It’s a shame he’s had such bad luck with injuries during his time at the Rhinos, but it has been terrific having him around the squad and I hope everything works out for him in the future.