Shark back as forward

Ex-Sharks winger and Murwillumbah recruit Luke Covell kicks down the field during last weekend’s pre-season match against Northern United at Oakes Oval.

MARC STAPELBERG

THE great thing for fans of Murwillumbah Mustangs with the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League season kicking off this weekend, is that former NRL star and 2011 recruit Luke Covell says his knee feels fine.

Covell last year became the first NRL player to undergo revolutionary LARS treatment after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for the Cronulla Sharks against Parramatta.

Covell knew the end of his professional football career was drawing near.

So the LARS treatment, which involved two industrial-strength synthetic fibres being inserted into his knee to act as his ACL ligament, was a way to quickly get him back on the football paddock to try to earn a new NRL contract.

Amazingly Covell did recover in time to play the end of the season.

His body was not quite up to the rigours of first-grade rugby league so he retired, but at least it was on his own terms.

Covell got the chance to say goodbye to his loyal Sharks fans.

Now all the former Sharks and Australian representative winger wants to do is play well for his junior club, the Mustangs.

And he wants to do this as a second-rower.

“You cop more elbows there than you do as a winger and I'm still getting used to it but that's where I want to play,” Covell said.

“The knee feels really good.

“I'm not running on it everyday like I did while at the Sharks because we only train twice a week at the Mustangs.

“I just need to manage it well.”

Covell boasts a rugby league career the envy of any park footballer.

He played a match for New Zealand during an eight-year stint in the NRL where he registered 153 games at the Wests Tigers and Cronulla.

In 2008, Covell was the Dally M top point scorer of the year after helping the Sharks make a preliminary final against Melbourne Storm.

But the modest 29-year-old is simply happy to be back in Murwillumbah – the town where he played junior football.

“I'm just fitting in to my new club at the moment,” he said.

“I'll throw my two bob in every now and then but I'll leave most of the talking up to Damien Quinn.

“Damien played some football (for Celtic Crusaders) in the English Super League and is better at explaining things, that's more his forte.

“It's good to be back in Murwillumbah; it's more relaxing than Sydney.”

Pre-season champions the Mustangs host traditional NRRRL battlers Kyogle Turkeys tomorrow at 2.45pm at Stan Sercombe Oval.

“It doesn't matter where Kyogle is on the table, they're always pretty tough in the forwards and tomorrow will be no different especially with it being the first round of the competition,” Mustangs coach Troy McLean said.