Grant Brebner concedes his battle with a debilitating groin injury forced him to question his football future.
Grant Brebner concedes his battle with a debilitating groin injury forced him to question his football future.
The likeable Scot, a linchpin of Melbourne’s 2006/07 trophy-laden Hyundai A-League season, was the forgotten man of the last disappointing campaign.
A niggling groin injury that bothered him in the early stages of the pre-season morphed into the excruciating osteitis pubis.
Training for Brebner was as a spectator sport and getting on the pitch come weekends was impossible.
His season was prematurely ended and a trip back to his homeland booked to recharge the batteries.
It was in Scotland that the arduous task of repairing his body for the cut and thrust of football began.
The 28-year-old trained through Melbourne’s foray into Asia for the Champions League and the off-season. Now, he is on the verge of a long-awaited comeback for Victory against Wellington.
“I have worked hard in the off-season to get the body right and thankfully all that work is paying off now,” Brebner said after completing training with his team-mates on Tuesday.
“It’s been probably the hardest part of my career. In 10 or 12 years I have never faced anything like this.”
“There were times when I thought ‘is it all worth it?’. It was hard. Thankfully now, towards the other side of it, I am getting there.”
Now over the nastiest stages of the injury, Brebner knows there will be further battles ahead.
“There’s no getting away from it, it’s going to be hard,” he said.
“It’s been really hard getting back to training fitness let alone games fitness.”
“It’s just pushing the body and pushing the body not enough so you break down again.”
“My fitness is up there now. It’s still not 100 percent as you’d expect but I am getting there.”
He has shed ‘a few pounds’ in his recuperation but the new-look Brebner believes that is the only thing that has or will change.
“I’m 10 years older than when I started and my role has not changed when I was that young.”
“Sure, the body is going to be that little bit older, but the mind is still the same. You still see the same passes, you still see the same runs.”
And he is not the only one to undergo a makeover; Brebner returns to a Victory line-up packed with plenty of new faces.
“I hope it’s going to be very hard to get a spot in the team,” he said.
“Competition (for places) is great. I don’t think we’ve had that over the last few seasons.”
“For us to be battling for positions and not expecting to be in the team can only be good for everybody concerned.”
“I’m relishing it. I’ve been out and the boys that have played deserve a place in there but I will be trying to knock the door down to get in there.”
