The pain became so intense for Jarrod Croker that the Raiders captain - who has played 291 NRL games - couldn’t even walk up stairs.
Croker underwent revolutionary stem-cell surgery on his knee this off-season in a bid to save his rugby league career.
The 31-year-old centre barely missed a game in his first 12 NRL seasons but the past 18 months have been plagued by injuries.
A shoulder reconstruction after the 2020 season was followed by debilitating knee pain which led to several minor surgeries on his meniscus, and platelet-rich plasma injections.
But those solutions proved temporary and Croker went under the knife last October in a bid to fend off medical retirement.
“Some days I couldn’t even walk up the stairs. It was just that sore,” Croker told foxsports.com.au.
“Some nights it was just throbbing in bed and other days it was okay, it was bearable but it just got worse and worse.
“It got to the point at the back end of the year where the body was copping it a fair bit and we made the decision where we need to do something bigger about this.
“For the longevity of my career and anything for life after footy, this was probably the best option so we decided to go down this path.”
The results have been promising so far, with Croker back running since Christmas and he started “football-related stuff” in recent weeks.
Croker has three years to run on his contract and players are entitled to a full payout if medically retired.
But the man just 27 appearances shy of Canberra’s games record held by Jason Croker - a distant relation - is determined to play on.
“At the moment it’s ticking along nicely, it has its days but I’m doing things I couldn’t do in the last two years, which is a start,” Croker said.
“Whether that’s good enough to get through a season of NRL and three more seasons of NRL, well we’re not going to know until we try it.”
Croker remains optimistic the the stem-cell procedure can save his career in the same way it did for Roosters great Boyd Cordner in 2017.
But the veteran knew the doctors were seriously concerned for his career at the end of last season.
“Without having the conversation, you know it’s in the back of their mind and they’re probably thinking that,” Croker said.
“There’s obviously private conversations with doctors and physios and everything like that... but (medical retirement) is not something in my mind at all.
“I just wanted to give this a red-hot crack and all I can say on top of that is it’s definitely done something, how much that is, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Croker said he’d love to return in time for the Raiders’ season opener against the Sharks on March 11.
But those conversations haven’t happened yet and Croker emphasised he wouldn’t be rushing his recovery.
“I honestly haven’t thought that far ahead, I’d like to say yes but I still don’t know,” Croker said.
“I’ve only done three or four weeks of footy, so I’m still getting that movement, getting that game speed.
“Whether you can try and get some minutes in a trial game or it’s a longer process than that, I haven’t actually spoken to any rehab coach about that, we’re sort of just going a week at a time and there’s a trial game coming up.
“I’d love to be there round one, we’ve got a Friday night home game and we haven’t been at home for a while so I would love to, but it’s not something I’m going to rush into either.”
Croker admits his injuries in recent years have hammered home just how quickly things can change in footy.
“For someone who never missed any games and never got injured and didn’t really have that sort of stuff to think about and then to go from a shoulder reco to this in a matter of 18 to 24 months. It catches up on you pretty quick,” he said.
“This is my 14th year so it does catch up on you and it certainly doesn’t get any easier but the desire is still there and I still love coming to training and hanging out with my mates.
“”I look around and see the blokes I’ve played with over the last 10-12 years, Jacko and Papa and Sammy Williams and Rapa and those guys and that’s what we play the game for.
“It does take its toll on you a little bit but the desire and the hunger is still there.”
Croker, who played just 12 games last season, had been approaching Cameron Smith’s all-time points-scoring record of 2786 points before the injuries struck.
He sits on 2238 career points and said his focus is simply on getting back onto the field, not records.
“If I hadn’t had these injuries I’d probably look at those things and look at where I’m at in it all... but I just want to get back to playing my best footy, which I definitely didn’t do last year,” Croker said.
“That’s my main goal, getting back in, playing my best footy, and leading the team around.”
Story first published on Fox Sports Australia