Wellington Phoenix captain Alex Rufer says football was the last thing on his mind as he grappled with an illness that threatened to keep him sidelined for an indefinite amount of time.
Rufer ultimately missed six Isuzu UTE A-League games with glandular fever, returning to action with the Phoenix against Melbourne Victory last Friday night.
But it could have been far worse for the Phoenix captain, who was told he could miss up to half a year of football due to the illness with no set recovery time.
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“(It was) extremely challenging,” Rufer said.
“Any athlete, watching a team you’re involved in play when you can’t play, it’s obviously extremely tough. Personally, the toughest thing about it all was the fact I didn’t know an end date. There was no plan at the time, and that was quite difficult to deal with. But now we’re through the other side, I’m feeling good and the boys are looking good too.
“I wasn’t thinking about football for a while, to be honest. Like I said, there was no plan so the first thing on my mind was just about getting healthy again. I was told it could be anything between six weeks and six months and when you get told that, it’s pretty scary.
“Like I said, the most important thing for me was making sure I got back healthy and thankfully and luckily I’m back healthy again, and here we are.
“I’ve had two bad injuries and obviously they are tough because you’re out for a long time – but at least you have something to work towards. You know around about when you should come back, or how you should come back. Whereas this was a little bit different. There was no expected date of return or expected day where you should feel good again.
“I’m just very thankful and feel good now that I’m back, and feeling good.”
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Rufer played 27 minutes off the bench in a second-half cameo for Wellington in a 1-0 loss to Victory in Round 19.
His return from illness comes at the perfect time for the Phoenix ahead of this season’s third and final instalment of the New Zealand Derby against Auckland FC at Go Media Stadium on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 3pm AEDT).
The Phoenix lost their first two games against Auckland and will be eager to avoid handing the Black Knights the ultimate derby bragging rights in the club’s first season in the league.
Rufer says he feels capable of playing up to an hour on Saturday as he continues to build up his minutes following his six-game illness absence.
“Personally (I think) I could play up to 60 minutes,” he said. “
“That might be pushing it a little bit but you want to play in derbies, you want to play in big games and you want to play against the best teams – and Auckland are the best team.
“I want to play as much as possible, and help the team as much as possible.”
