Liam Squire back in business after injury break
Tasman Makos No 8 Liam Squire, seen here during their pre-season clash with Wellington, is pleased to finally be free of his concussion issues.
Liam Squire's official return to the playing arena last Friday was significant on two counts.
Not only did the talented No 8 emerge from the Tasman Makos' national provincial championship rugby season-opener against Waikato free of the concussion concerns that have dogged him for the past 10 or so months, but he also broke his 2014 duck by scoring the team's opening try.
Tasman's 35-20 win over Waikato in Hamilton was a special celebration of sorts for the 24-year-old loosie, finally headache-free and a positive pointer to what he hopes will be another successful season with the Makos. And after scoring a then record seven tries during Tasman's 2013 NPC campaign, his subsequent try-scoring drought was finally ended thanks to a slick overhead pass by his hooker Quentin MacDonald late in the first half.
For Squire, just being back on the field after his frustrating and lengthy lay-off with concussion issues was a huge relief and an opportunity now to get his burgeoning career back on course. A head knock prior to last season's premiership final sparked Squire's latest health scare, severely restricting his game time with the Chiefs during this year's Super 15 campaign.
But after a lengthy recovery programme, he was finally given the all-clear about five weeks ago.
"It was a bit frustrating but there was nothing I could do, just bide my time and hope things got better and they finally did," Squire said.
"I ended up going down to Christchurch and seeing a concussion [specialist] down there, had a few tests and came out clear. That was good for my confidence, getting the all-clear, knowing I've passed that [test] and getting back into the rugby."
Squire's concussion issues also restricted his ability to train fully.
"It was only about six weeks ago when I got back from Super Rugby that I started getting back into some heavy, full-on gym work with [Makos strength coach] Glenn Stewart.
"My last full game was about three months ago for the Chiefs against the Hurricanes, so I didn't expect to go out there and light the world up against Waikato. I just wanted to get a good solid 80 [minutes] in, so I guess each week I'm just looking to improve and keep trying to grow my game.
"I've still got a bit to work on, the fitness is not where I want it to be but the best thing for that is to just keep playing more minutes and then try and get the confidence back."
As for the try - one of four scored by the Makos to secure a maximum five championship points - it's significance wasn't lost on the rangy, mobile loosie.
"Last year I didn't score a try so I finally got the monkey off my back. It was really good vision from Quentin, I was quite surprised, usually those front rowers have tunnel vision. All the loosies ended up scoring, it was a good start for us."
Tries to flankers Shane Christie and Pete Samu highlighted the dynamic potential of Tasman's loose forward trio which, Squire says, is starting to gel nicely.
"Last year we played a lot together, so we're gelling quite well in our second season together. Pete Samu had quite a bit of experience with the Crusaders and that can only help his game.
"Shane's always going to play well week-in, week-out - he's awesome. He'd been out for the whole [Super Rugby] season but he looked like he'd never been out of the game for that long."
Tasman's scratchy pre-season form opened the players' eyes and Squire said they'd learned some valuable lessons.
"We got a bit of a reality check with the pre-season so some of the new guys now know what standard they need to be playing at for this level. They say you get a lot more benefit from losing those sort of games, so we got a decent rark up afterwards which was definitely needed.
"The boys definitely responded but we've still got a lot of growth in us this season...it's exciting. I'm always looking to improve on everything, to be honest. I'll be looking to get more involved and just building on that fitness and confidence, build my game and just play the best footy I can for Tasman."
While Squire's Chiefs team-mate, good friend and All Blacks flanker Sam Cane won't be fronting for Bay of Plenty against Tasman at Trafalgar Park on Friday, Squire said that the Steamers still warranted genuine respect.
"We know we've got to be up for it, it's going to be another big challenge. They're definitely not a team to take lightly so we'll be looking to try and play better than we did against Waikato."
He won't be worrying about any lingering head issues though.
"Once I get out on the field I don't think about it too much, it's not something I worry too much about. Pre-season I took a few knocks and tested it out and was good as gold. No, I'm entirely confident that I'm okay."
