It was a phone call that Billy Slater concedes was the most emotional of his coaching career, and the culmination of a chain of events that had threatened to curtail Thomas Flegler’s days in the NRL.
For the best part of two years, as his teammates trained under the Queensland sun, Flegler was seen running endless laps at Redcliffe. There was little more he could do.
Having suffered nerve damage in his shoulder just four games into his Dolphins tenure, his time in rugby league hanged in the balance. A comeback to the State of Origin arena appeared to be a pipe dream.
So when Slater picked up the phone on Sunday night to inform the Tully terror he would be thrust into the Maroons’ forward pack for the first time since 2023, it marked the ultimate comeback from the brink of anguish.
“It’s a great story, isn’t it? I made a few calls to players playing their debuts, but Tommy was probably the most emotional on both ends of the phone,” Slater said.
“Everyone knows his journey with his shoulder. Prior to getting that shoulder injury, he was one of the best front-rowers in the game. For him to fight tooth and nail to get back on the field, I think that speaks volumes of who Tom Flegler is.
“I didn’t cry,” Flegler added, “but I was a bit emotional too.”
As Flegler struggled to regain mobility and strength in his shoulder, the drastic step of nerve transplant surgery was taken – a final desperate bid to ensure his Dolphins tenure was not cut short.
Even from that point, he concedes he had to wait six to eight months before he had any indication whether the operation worked.
Flegler insists that at no point did he truly believe his career was finished, but he admits there were certainly doubts and conversations had with his family about what his reality would look like should he be forced to draw the curtain.
“I had to have those discussions and be a bit realistic at the same time as I was being optimistic. It’s easy to say now, but we kind of knew we would get back to me playing footy,” Flegler said.
“The hardest thing was the uncertainty at the beginning. I had so much time off and didn’t really have a clear direction on where we were going – I took six months off, and we were just hoping it would get better.
“There was probably a year-long period there where you’re just treading water and don’t know if it’s going to get better.”
Despite his ordeal, Flegler revealed that at no point did he consult a pyschologist to help fight any inner demons that were entering his mind.
“It’s part of life, you’ve got some hurdles you’ve got to get over, and some hurdles are bigger than others,” he said.
“There’s no point sitting there crying about it because that doesn’t really help anyone.”
Instead, he set about improving in the one area he could in anticipation of the faster game he would be rejoining due to the changing interpretations of the six-again ruck infringement laws. Those mind-numbing laps of Redcliffe Stadium had a purpose.
“One thing I could do is come back fitter than I ever have,” Flegler said.
“The game’s definitely gotten a lot quicker since I last played – it’s been a couple of years – so that was a bit of a shock when I first came back, but I’m slowly getting used to it now.”
Once Flegler was able to resume full contact training, there was still no certainty he would have the same physical presence that he did before.
But according to Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf, one moment eradicated those fears.
“We started to reintroduce him to full contact, and he had no hesitation,” Woolf said.
“There was a session we had on the mats where we were looking for some full contact, and he really threw his shoulder into it and really threw his body into it. That gave me a lot of confidence that day.
“I think it’s been tougher than what he did acknowledge. When you’re sitting there with an injury that doesn’t have an end date, it’s really difficult to deal with.”
Now, Flegler is all business – conquering the New South Wales forward pack.
When asked if there were any Blues he was eager to tear into, he was quick to offer a sharp response: “Everyone.”
Flegler and Maroons teammates Max Plath, Selwyn Cobbo and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow will miss the Dolphins’ clash with Canberra on Thursday. Woolf also confirmed Herbie Farnworth was ruled out with hamstring tightness and would be replaced by Oryn Keeley.
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