“It started off pretty good. I was able to get a full preseason and a few good games at the start of the season, then obviously hurt myself in that Brumbies game. It was pretty frustrating the first couple of days, to be fair, but I’m pretty lucky I got a good support group around me, good physios and good teammates as well. It makes it a lot easier.”
Lord credited his support group – parents, partner, teammates and Chiefs staff – for getting around him after another injury setback, but the 24-year-old said it wasn’t the sort of situation you could let get you down.
He said the best piece of advice he had ever been given in that space was that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and that has been how he approached recovery.
“With my knee, you know, maybe two weeks and you want to be running, in three weeks, changing direction. I think it’s just about having little goals that you want to set and keep working towards,” he said.
“A lot of it has just been a little bit unfortunate injuries; wrong place, wrong time, limbs being caught up in the wrong place. It probably doesn’t help being 6′9″ [2.06m] sometimes.
“You’ve got to stay positive. You can’t dwell on it too long. Being injured quite a bit, you learn from experience; you can’t let it get you down and, obviously, there are always lights at the end of the tunnel, which I was lucky enough to play on the weekend.”
Lord’s return came at an ideal point in the season for the Chiefs as they look to establish themselves as Super Rugby Pacific’s top team heading into the playoffs.
In his return, Lord proved to be a factor – particularly at the set piece where he pinched two opposition lineouts.
“I just want to contribute to the team. The boys are doing a bloody good job out there,” he said.
“Hopefully I can get out there and play some good footy with them, consistent footy. We obviously want to be in a good spot to win the title this year, so we just want to keep on getting better and better.
“For me, I just want to stay out there on the field, enjoy playing footy again, getting better and consistently out there.”
With four games left on the Chiefs’ schedule before the playoffs, Lord knows he also has enough time to try to play his way into contention for higher honours, after being named on the bench for the All Blacks in three tests last year, but said that would be a product of the job at hand.
“I think it’s always at the back of the mind, to put your hand up for national honours later on, right?
“For me at the moment, it’s just been about staying healthy, getting on to the field and playing consistent footy for the Chiefs. If I do that, I feel like I put myself in good stead for the future higher honours maybe, but I’ll just take it week by week from now.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
