Featherstone Rovers star Brett Ferres is aiming to make a long-awaited return to action this weekend against the club where it all started – after shaking off the dreaded coronavirus.
James Webster’s side host Championship outfit Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup first round on Sunday and former England international Ferres is set to feature.
The much-travelled second rower, who began his career at Odsal before spells at Wakefield, Castleford, Huddersfield and Leeds, joined Rovers following his departure from Headingley at the end of the 2019 campaign.
He played in their opening games of last season before the Championship campaign was halted in mid-March and then scrapped altogether due to the pandemic.
After recovering from off-season surgery and a recent bout of Covid-19, Ferres told Rugby League Live: “I’m targeting this weekend as my first game back, having not played for the past year.
“I had surgery after leaving Leeds and played in all the Featherstone games last year before the season was suspended - but then ended up getting Covid as well three or four weeks ago, which was a bit of a nightmare.
“I missed quite a lot of training within that, so I was kind of chasing my tail a bit when the recent friendlies started.
“I thought ‘I need to pull my finger out and get going’, but this weekend against Bradford is the one Webbo have spoken about. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ferres, who is 35 next month, looks back at his time at Bradford at the start of his career with great fondness.
He added: “I really enjoyed it because there were guys like Jamie Peacock, Joe Vagana, Paul Deacon, Shontayne Hape, Paul Anderson and Lesley Vainikolo – it was an unreal side when I broke through.
“As a 19-year-old kid, I was thinking ‘is this real?’. I played in the 2006 World Club Challenge against Wests Tigers, which was a fantastic experience.
“I was always very lucky and fortunate in my time at Bradford because they gave me the opportunity to start what has been a really good career.
“I hope they can continue to rebuild and get back to Odsal later this year.
“It would be nice to play there again and I’ll always be forever grateful for Bradford setting me on the path in the game.”
Ferres, who helped Leeds to the 2017 Grand Final, is enjoying a part-time existence at Rovers.
He said: “They’re a great bunch of lads and we have really strengthened the squad this year.
“It has made life pretty comfortable transitioning from being full-time to part-time.
“I play part-time at Fev and spend the rest of my time looking after my three kids, doing the school run.
“It’s nice to be able to do that and I’ll try and stay out of the working environment for as long as possible!
“It’s nice because, while playing rugby full-time is great, you do miss out on things like summer holidays, plus you’re often playing at weekends.
“That’s quite full-on, so it’s nice to be able to sit back and enjoy being a dad by spending time with my kids.
“I don’t think you realise it at the time. Older players tell you as a young lad ‘soak it up, it goes quick’.
“Now I’m staring down the other barrel seeing young kids come through and thinking about what I’ve done in my career.
“It’s been 16 or 17 years now for me as a professional rugby league player and it’s remarkable really how time flies.
“But I look back and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved.
“I don’t really have any regrets about what I’ve done and where I’ve been.
“I never thought I’d be a one-club man and always wanted to try different environments out and put myself out of my comfort zone.
“I’ve certainly done that and to help Featherstone push for Super League is my aim this season. A Challenge Cup run would be nice too.”
