IF there was one bright point in the past week at Huntington Stadium, it must be the return to first-team action, at long last, of Chris Spurr.

The centre provided the Press's moment of the match' away to Batley Bulldogs when he ended 17 months of personal injury hell with a well-taken try in his first game back, and against his old club too.

Leaving aside the fact this match, and the result, brought arguably the lowest point in York City Knights' season, just getting out on the pitch must have brought at least a little pleasure to the player himself.

Unlike some not least in the case of Wayne Rooney Spurr's battle for fitness has largely been away from prying eyes and, while this means he can get on with it without intrusion, it must have been a long, lonely journey, the forlornness of which should not be underestimated.

The 25-year-old understated the point when he said it had been a "frustrating" time. But the real truth of the matter can be garnered from the fact he had seriously contemplated quitting the game.

"I never wanted to pack in rugby league it's been part of my life since I was a kid," he told The Press.

"But you've got to look at life after rugby league and with the problems I was having I was thinking whether it was worth it. It crossed my mind and, if it had continued and if I had not felt 100 per cent, I might have called it a day, but in the last three or four weeks I've felt excellent.

"It was the same when I did my cruciate ligament I thought about packing in rugby then. You wonder is it ever going to get better and then all of a sudden it improves a lot and you go from being really low to really high."

Spurr's mental battle probably wasn't aided by the fact he had only been at the Knights for a couple of months and had not had time to become a firm crowd favourite, despite his four tries in eight starts. This meant he became something of a forgotten man.

That said, the club did not forget him as shown by his new deal 12 months later after just a few training sessions.

Spurr added: "I was always confident in the back of my mind that I would make a full recovery and hopefully this is now the end of my injuries."

Hopefully indeed.

To come back from any career-threatening injury takes guts galore, but to do it twice takes additional mental toughness and no little stubbornness. To have to do it three times would be cruel to the extreme, and may just be too much.

In Spurr's case, for those that don't know the background, he suffered serious cruciate ligament damage in his left knee when with Featherstone in 1999, which took nine months to mend. Such an injury has put paid to many a sportsman's career.

He then suffered an horrendous double-injury a broken fibula and dislocated ankle on the same left leg playing for England Students in December 2004, just two months after his Knights team had endured that famous Play-off final defeat.

But getting over that, with the aid of metal pins in his ankle, wasn't the end of his troubles.

He explained: "As I started training again (late last year) the team were doing well and I really wanted to get back and be part of it all. I came back in pre-season and felt good but then got an imbalance in my foot because I was putting more pressure on my right leg, which was causing pain in my calf.

"I went to a podiatrist and had insoles made which I had to wear.

"But then playing in the Hull friendly (this pre-season), it came on again and I was told it would be better to have the metalwork taken out.

"I was told then that it would be about six weeks before I could play, but after that time I was still struggling with it and it ended up being two or three months. It was so frustrating.

"But after the last two or three weeks it's improved no end and hopefully that's the end of it.

"Missing out on being part of it last year after the 2004 Grand Final loss was pretty hard. Hopefully I can get back in there and stay in there, and we can start picking up some wins."

Spurr remained confident not only in himself but also in the team, despite their worrying start to life in National League One.

"I want to get in, try to hold a regular place and get a lot of game-time," he said to sum up his personal aims.

"Having missed 18 months or so, I want to get back in there and stay fit and help the team stay in NL1.

"That's the team's aim and over the next few weeks we've got the chance to start winning and hopefully we'll do that.

"We've got a good squad we've not had a lot of luck with injuries and we've had a tough start to NL1 with the fixture list but we've got the ability to do well in this league."

  • Centre makes point as Dave Bucks the trend


CHRIS Spurr, if only in recognition of what he went through just to play in last Sunday's game, was awarded a point in the Press/Collier Planet Hire Player of the Year competition this week.

The centre put in a solid performance capped by that second-half try to be deemed the Knights' third-best player on the day against Batley Bulldogs.

The top marks went to man of the match Dave Buckley (3pts), who was arguably the only player to come to the party in that dour first half, and hooker Jamaine Wray (2pts), who again made a big impact as a substitute.

May hasn't half been a bad month for the Knights, so winning the Player of the Month award perhaps might not feel as momentous as it could otherwise have been.

Nevertheless, players at the top of the pile must still be recognised for their efforts.

Unsurprisingly, there weren't many votes polled, but the top man was Buckley, who pipped Matt Blaymire and Wray to the accolade.

The Aussie second-row can not be knocked for his efforts throughout May, as proven by his selection in the LHF National League One Team of the Month' run in conjunction with Rugby League World magazine, even before his display against Batley.

The three bonus Player of the Year points he collects for winning this award lift him to second in the standings.

Meanwhile, everyone who sent a Player of the Month vote to The Press got the chance to win two tickets and present the award, and the lucky reader was Liam Cadd, 13, of Lawrence Street, York.

Latest Player of the Year standings: Golden 21pts, Buckley 13, Elston 12, Wray 8, Blaymire 8, Law 8, Spicer 7, Rhodes 7, Farrell 5, Hasty 5, Bates 5, Fox 3, Smith 3, Bovill 2, O'Loughlin 2, Sullivan 2, Spurr 1, Paterson 1, Forsyth 1.

THE Knights Supporters' Club are having an '80s Disco in the Huntington Stadium bar on June 17.

Everyone is welcome and tickets will be on sale from Big Ian (the man with the drum) and Gary Hall at tomorrow's game.

The Supporters' Club are also staging a family fun quiz night at the same venue on June 15, starting at 7.30pm.

Get yourselves there.

DON'T forget, the first big Lancealotto prize draw is on Friday so you need to get your forms in sharpish to be in with a chance of winning the wanga.

There are now nearly 800 members of the Knights' new lottery and this figure should rise this week with all the late entrants.