Grida: Injury "Broke Me"

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

There’s far more that goes into being a professional athlete than a player’s performance on gameday. The grind to recover, improve and win can take its toll, both physically and mentally.

Illawarra’s Dan Grida has spent just under a year recovering from his second ACL tear in two seasons. He knew what he had to go through to physically rehabilitate his knee second time around – this time the challenge was much more psychological.

His recovery from the injury coupled with the inability to see family due to the Western Australia border closure took its toll on the 24 year old, and it was Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas who realised one of his star pupils needed some extra guidance off the court.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heartbreaking news out of the Gong, with the <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a> announcing that Dan Grida will miss the entire <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> season after re-rupturing the same ACL he injured last year.<br><br>Wishing you a speedy recovery, <a href="https://twitter.com/DGrida?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DGrida</a> <br><br>Full details at: <a href="https://t.co/bzzs5LHC3w">https://t.co/bzzs5LHC3w</a> <a href="https://t.co/4TbzgnRoaT">pic.twitter.com/4TbzgnRoaT</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1442339312482209804?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"For me the physical stuff was easy … but it was a lot harder this time mentally. It broke me a little bit,” Grida told The Illawarra Mercurcy.

"WA was shut for a long time so I was probably a little bit homesick as well. Not being able to play, being hurt, it all compounded.

"I was working out really hard and then I just had to go watch the boys train and play. It got to the point where nothing was really working.

"It was getting tough and Jacob was actually the one who said 'we need to get you onto something'. I don't think I would've gone for it myself.”

Grida is now deep in preparation for his long-awaited return to the court. Since finishing third in the NBL Rookie of the Year voting in 2019 fans have been somewhat deprived of watching the exciting talent due to his injury struggles.

He’s back in full training and could make his return to the court in Darwin during the pre-season NBL Blitz tournament.

Despite initially not placing much faith in the psychology route at the beginning of the journey, Grida credits it with helping him return to top shape.

"I was always a little bit skeptical of it. I just always thought I'd get through it myself. I'm pretty headstrong,” he said.

"I guess you can never really understand what guys are going through until something like that happens. I'm going to keep going back.

"It's definitely a really good tool for people to use. Even if nothing's really gone super wrong, it's just good to unload how you're feeling with no judgement and I've loved it.

"With the support network I have here, my teammates are my best mates, Jacob as coach, it's like a family for me. They really helped me through."

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Now though Grida can focus on repaying the faith Illawarra has placed in him.

With local talents like Harry Froling, Isaac White and Emmett Naar being moved on during the off-season, Grida is aware of the investment his club have made in him after twice extending his contract while he’s been sidelined with knee issues.

"I'm very grateful for that and I'm very happy to be back with the squad for the next two years," he added.

“I feel better than I've ever felt. I know I said that last time but I'm just super grateful to be back on the floor with my boys and playing for the coaches.

“I love playing this game and love playing for these guys … I’m loving every second of it.”

Click here for the full story >> 'It broke me a little'