'We can’t get a fix here’: Porecki opens up on retirement fears after Waratahs return

Sun, Feb 2, 2025, 2:36 AM
Nathan Williamson
by Nathan Williamson
Former Wallabies captain Dave Porecki has detailed his tough Achilles injury recovery. Photo: Getty Images
Former Wallabies captain Dave Porecki has detailed his tough Achilles injury recovery. Photo: Getty Images

Former Wallabies captain Dave Porecki has detailed his tough Achilles injury recovery as the hooker admits he didn’t know if he would be able to return.

Porecki pushed himself through just over 50 minutes in Saturday’s 36-all draw between the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies in Bowral.

Watch every game of Super Rugby Pacific live and on-demand via Stan Sport.

The 32-year-old’s last official game was leading the Wallabies at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with a trouble Achilles issue plaguing his 2024 after picking it up in a trial.

“It was tough. It was probably more frustrating around like how complicated the injury was and going week to week, not really knowing,” Porecki said.

“You’d almost rather have a long-term injury because you know, ‘This is the time I’m coming back’, whereas my one was every week I’m getting asked, ‘When are you back, when are you back?’

“We just ended up making a call to say it’s not going to work for me.”

As the weeks went on, Porecki admits his mind started to wonder about his future.

He’d dealt with rare injuries before such as a split calf but nothing like this.

“I would normally be stoic and say I always knew I was going to come back, but there were times that I was like, we cannot get a fix here, and it’s just not responding.” Porecki concedes.

“We started taking a more aggressive approach with the cortisone injection stuff and got a lot of quality help along the way as well, a lot of different sets of eyes and that was really helpful for me because it puts your mind at ease a little bit as well.

“You know that you’ve got confidence that they’ve seen it before, although very minimally. They have actually seen it and they’ve seen people recover, and it was just time but for me, the pressure was higher because you’re on such a time crunch to get back for Super Rugby and then put your best foot forward for Wallabies.”

The long layoff has allowed Porecki to come into 2025 in peak condition, initially joining the Wallabies training camp in Canberra before departing for the birth of twins.

“In some ways, it was a really bad year. I wasn’t able to play, but otherwis,e it was good, I was able to get in the gym and get my body right physically,” he added.

“I feel like I’m in a better place physically in terms of at the start of a year than I have been in previous years because I’ve got a massive pre-season under my belt. It’s a good start of the year for me.”

Share