The family home has become Harry Wilson's rugby sanctuary as he strives to get his body right for whatever lies ahead.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Exactly what lies ahead is uncertain at the moment with the Super Rugby competition suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the proposed domestic competition put on hold almost as soon as it was given the green light.
It has left the players in limbo and for Wilson curtailed an almost dream start to Super Rugby.
In his rookie season the Gunnedah export had been one of the form players of the competition and was being touted as a potential bolter for the Wallabies squad.
But then injury and the lockdown struck, and from living out his rugby dreams the 20-year old now finds himself rehabbing in a gym he has fashioned on the side of the family home, having no idea when - if at all - he will get to take the field for the Reds again.
"It's pretty weird at the moment," Wilson said.
He admits it is hard to believe that all of this has happened, although the impact for him has been lessened a bit by the fact that he already knew he was "going to miss a fair bit of footy" after injuring his medial ligament in their last round win over the Bulls.
As he put it he's "not the angriest out of most of the boys".
He also too still has a rugby focus.
"Until my knee is right I probably won't be trying to stop thinking about it (rugby)," he said.
Currently in two-week training isolation at home, all of Wilson's rehab is conducted over the phone.
"We can't see the physio so I'm face timing our physio once or twice a day and then doing a physio session on FaceTime," he said.
Fortunately he doesn't need treatment, it's more about just doing what they tell him to do.
Now over two weeks into his recovery, he has started some dead lifts to try and strengthen up his knee.
READ MORE:
In between he has been watching plenty of rugby with Fox Sports showing old Wallabies games.
"I've probably been watching more rugby than I normally do, just watching the old classic games from 2000 onwards," he said.
"That's actually been taking up a fair bit of my time. Whenever I put it on there always seems to be a good game on."
Reflecting on the season so far, Wilson said he has been growing in confidence with every game and has been pretty happy with how he has played.
Heralded as one of the most exciting prospects in Australian rugby, the No.8 leads the competition for carries, and tops the stats for the Reds for both runs (88) and run metres (486). One of the strengths of his game, Wilson said he feels like he has improved a lot at the contact working in those tight channels.
He has also been pleased with his improvement in some of less obvious aspects that he has been working hard on, like his work on the ground at the breakdown.
"Those little things, which probably you don't notice as much watching, but as a team we all notice because it's the difference between holding onto the ball and not holding it," he said.
He is holding out hope that the proposed domestic competition will be able to kick-off in May but concedes that "the way things are going it looks more and more unlikely".
