'Just can't get any luck': Leeds Rhinos winger David Fusitu'a makes defiant pledge after injury setback

The former New Zealand and Tonga Test winger has scored 15 tries in 31 games since joining Rhinos two years ago and that tally would have been higher but for a series of setbacks.

The latest of those was knee surgery which is set to keep him out of action for around seven weeks. That was a blow for a player who signed a new contract, keeping him at Rhinos until the end of 2024, late last season and ended the campaign with a hat-trick of tries in a big home win over Castleford Tigers.

“I know I can still play and play well and make a mark on the field,” Fusitu’a insisted. “It’s just about proving to my body I can still do it too. It takes a bit of time, but at the moment it is good to just look at where I am at, not only physically, but outside of footy as well. It is chance to take stock and then keep going. It is only a small part of the season; although it is frustrating, there’s still a lot of games to go.”

Fusitu’a trained fully through pre-season, but missed Rhinos’ Boxing Day win over Wakefield Trinity following a family bereavement and was ruled out of their final warm-up match, against Hull KR because of a knee problem. Rhinos initially decided against surgery and he was set to be in the team for the Betfred Super League round one clash with Salford Red Devils.

But when Fusitu’a strained a calf just before that game, which was likely to mean a spell on the sidelines, he was booked in for an operation which he and the club hope will prevent more issues later in the year. “It is a bit frustrating,” Fusitu’a admitted.

I just can’t get any luck at the moment. All I can do is control what I can control and try to get back as quickly as I can and make sure I am all good to go when I do.”

The 29-year-old had surgery last Thursday. “It’s not a very big operation,” he added. “Any operation is serious, but this one wasn’t too bad, they just needed to clean out my knee and there wasn’t anything in there they didn’t expect to see.

“I just have to crack on now. I had a pretty decent pre-season and I was training well up until that last week. It is frustrating, but I have got to take some positives out of it. It was a bit of a shock, but the aim for me now is to look forward.

“The season has only just started so I am looking forward to a long stretch of games. The recovery time is about six weeks and this is my first week. It’s not too long so it’s just a case of getting consistently training and then into consistently playing again. There’s still a lot of time to contribute to the team and hopefully do something special this year.”