Queensland Reds Director of Coaching Ewen McKenzie with skipper James Horwill at Ballymore. Picture: Annette Dew Source: The Courier-Mail
JAMES Horwill's eight months in rugby purgatory is set to end in February ahead of what he describes as a once-in-a-lifetime season.
The towering Queensland Reds skipper suffered a horrific hamstring tear in round 13, sidelining him for the rest of the Super Rugby campaign.
Horwill's injury absence included the Reds' doomed finals tilt, September's Rugby Championship and November's four-Test European Tour, which he was due to lead as Wallabies captain.
The powerful lock is only now tentatively running at full tilt and is likely - but no certainty - to play at least one trial match, the first of which will be against the Blues in Toowoomba on February 2.
Queensland plays defending champions the Chiefs on the Sunshine Coast six days later before a round 1 trip to the Brumbies on February 16.
"Any time you're injured and off the field is incredibly frustrating," Horwill said. "You want to play. You want to be able to do things.
"You have to manage your expectations of what you can do and what your body can do and that's certainly been difficult."
But with 2011 Super Rugby champions Queensland tipped to again challenge and the British and Irish Lions touring Australia in June and July - their first visit since 2001 - Horwill hopes he is about to get his perseverance rewarded.
"It's a once-in-a-career type year," said Horwill, with Queensland to meet the Lions on June 8 at Suncorp Stadium. "They come once every 12 years so there are not many players who get to play them twice."
"So it's certainly very exciting for all of Australian rugby with all the provinces getting the opportunity to play and obviously the Test matches are a big, big thing."
Reds director of coaching Ewen McKenzie said he adopted a steady approach to Horwill's injury in a bid to have him primed for round 1.
"He's on track (but) we haven't been rushing since he missed going on the (European) tour. "We've just taken a very pragmatic approach to make sure he comes on line at the right time. It's been methodical and very positive."
McKenzie also confirmed Will Genia's recovery from a knee reconstruction appears ahead of schedule but wouldn't reveal when the halfback was slated to return.
Genia, whose worse-case scenario was reportedly a round 6 appearance, remains the biggest concern from a 36-man squad - including Quade Cooper - who trained at Ballymore yesterday.
"Will's the only one that's got any doubt about the start of the season. I don't have a fixed date there," McKenzie said. "But he has been good, possibly ahead of schedule."
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