Luke O’Nien opened up on his recovery, his relationship with Jordan Willis during rehab and his social media posts inspiring other injured players.
MOMENTS
“You do all your rehab and do all your work for moments like this and I couldn’t have really wrote it too much better on a personal note for the team as well. I have been sidelined for quite a while and seen the boys putting their bodies on the line so it was finally nice just to contribute and help at the right time so it was a good night.”
TOUGH RECOVERY
“The physio team have done a really good job working with me and the surgeon was brilliant. It’s been a tough three and a half months but for moments like that it was worth it.”
CONNECT
“It’s not easy because you have to be a bit vulnerable to do it and you never know how people are going to react. My goal when I did that wasn’t for sympathy or anything like that, it was just to maybe to connect with one injured person and I probably got 50/60+ messages from injured people in football and away from football, someone from the West End messaged me as well and resonated with it.”
IMPACT
“My aim was to connect with one person and I connected with lots of people. I’m just delighted I could have a small impact and just connect with people to help them through that or help me through that.”
POSITIVE SURROUNDINGS
“I have real good people around me. I have a performance coach that I see away from football, his name is Rob Blackburn and he has been very key in helping me have moments like today.”
FAMILY
“My partner has put up with me during some difficult times because you do what you do to go out there and when you can’t it’s difficult and challenging and you have to rethink the goals. I can only thank the people around me in terms of my partner, the little one has been my pre-season, chasing her around the house.”
CHALLENGES
“It has its challenges but when you are coming back in, in your mind it helps and moments like today makes it worth it. I think it’s harder when you are younger and haven’t been through it as many times.”
SENIOR
“I’m actually getting old now, we did old vs young in training and I was in the old team. With the experience I think you can withdraw from that but you will get through it. I think it’s harder in your earlier years and you haven’t been through it and you're like ‘am I going to get through it.’ You always question it a little bit.”
IMPORTANT
“You still have moments when you question things and I think that’s normal, that’s why I put the post on social media that people have talked about and I think it’s important to show that side.”
VOCALISE
“It’s ok to have a struggle now and again, it’s everyday life, it’s normal and people across the world have that. I just wanted to vocalise that and connect with people.”
WILLIS
“Willis has been brilliant for me on a personal note and I can say that on behalf of the team as well, he’s been like a mentor and a friend to me, just kind of guiding me because he’s been through this process a lot longer than I have.”
RESPECT
“He is still a vital part of the team giving advice from the sides positional wise as well. He’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to his return. He came up to me and said he was delighted when I scored.”
