North Queensland Cowboys fullback Tom Chester has returned back to full training after rupturing his ACL during last season.
The club confirmed the young gun returned to normal training activity on January 15 after he was sidelined for the majority of last season due to rupturing his ACL in Round 9.
It is understood that Chester is hoping to push himself to be available for the Pre-Season Challenge games that occur in February, which is less than one month away.
Chester, in his sevenย NRLย appearances to date, of which there were six in 2023 having first joined theย NRLย squad in 2022, has impressed, while his form atย QLD Cupย level has also been strong.
The young gun fullback, who started a number of games earlier in 2023 during a suspension to Scott Drinkwater and made his NRL debut at the back-end of 2022, was taken from the field just minutes before full-time against the Sharks.
Despite the ACL injury, Chester and the Cowboys agreed to a new one-year contract extension in November as they look to build towards their future.
While he has played a majority of his senior rugby league at fullback, Chester was a half previously and has also spent time at centre, wing and lock in recent times, turning him into a potentially handy option off the bench if there is no room in the starting 13.
In Chester's sevenย NRLย games to date, he has scored three tries and, in 2023, averaged 93 metres per game despite four of his games seeing less than 30 minutes of game time off the bench.
His three games starting at fullback saw all three of his tries, with a combined 12 tackle breaks, 2 line breaks and 154 metres per game.
โIt was a horrible way to end what was a promising season for Tom last year, but he has worked as hard as anyone in our building to come back from injury over the last six months,โ Cowboys General Manager of Footballย Micheal Luckย said in a statement confirming the news of his contract extension.
โTom still has a little way to go, but we know he won't leave any stone unturned to make the best possible recovery.
โTom is a terrific team man and he is a great asset for Todd (Payten) because he can play a number of positions. We believe his best spot is fullback, but we see potential for him to play in the outside backs as well.
โThis additional year gives Tom some surety about his future as he makes his recovery from a serious injury.โ
