I HAVE to admit I’ve been feeling in a fair bit of pain over the past couple of weeks.

Obviously, the quad-muscle injury has been a contributory factor.

But having to watch the events of last Sunday unfold certainly didn’t help in the heeling process!

I’ve already admitted that I’m not the greatest watcher in the world, and I found the Rochdale game tough.

Yet it was nothing compared to the game against Salford.

I really felt for the guys that day, because nothing they tried seemed to come off.

In the wake of the Salford defeat I’ve been asked if I thought it would have many any difference if I’d played, because the team lacked leadership.

But, on this occasion, I genuinely don’t think it would have mattered.

I honestly think it was just one of those days, when one or two of our key players were fractionally off their game and the opposition produced the performance of their lives. You just have to give credit where it’s due to Salford.

You sometimes get days like this and, although I’d like to think I would have made the difference, I’m sure the final outcome would have been the same.

Having worked all year with this group of players, I know exactly how talented they are, and that they all have the ability to put last week’s setback behind them and put that performance behind them.

We all know a week is a long time in footy, and this weekend we have the chance to forget all about the Salford setback and bounce back at Wakefield.

It’s yet another tough test, but from what I’ve seen of the boys in training this week, they look ready for the challenge.

Having Andy Raleigh back after his knee injury is a big bonus.

He’s a solid player, who gives us strength in defence and takes the ball to the line exceptionally well.

And we’ve also got Lee Mossop in on loan from Wigan.

He’s a player who looks like he could make a difference to us, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.

It all makes for an interesting game.

LIAM FULTON and myself have been copping a fair bit of stick off our highly sympathetic teammates over the past couple of weeks.

Me and Liam, right, are now the only two players who are having those killer 7.30am starts to do the rehabilitation work.

I’ve got my quad-muscle injury and Liam’s still doing the work to get his knee 100% right.

To be honest, the work is incredibly hard and having to be up so early isn’t that great, although having very young children has helped me acclimatise!

But, according, to our playing colleagues – especially the English boys – the only reason it’s me and Liam in rehab is because the Australians just can’t take the pace.

So, it’ll be good to get out of rehab, not just to get playing again, but to shut my teammates up!