TO SAY IT’S been a frustrating few years for Peter Nelson would be an understatement.
For a young player – he’s still only 24 – he has had terrible luck with injuries, constantly finding himself back on the treatment table every time he’s had a sniff of a regular position in the Ulster first team.
Originally a fullback – a position he can (and might) still play – his biggest setback came against Edinburgh in December 2015 when he suffered a horrible foot injury, ruling him out for over a year after having deservedly worked his way into the squad.
He had to sit and watch as others such as Rob Lyttle and Jacob Stockdale burst through, with the latter impressing enough to get an Ireland call-up, while he remained sidelined.
Even on his return, after making the switch to out-half, small injuries continued to plague him, meaning he made all of six appearances last season.
And now the frustration stems from another source: a new arrival.
“He’s trained a little bit and you can see the glimpses of class he has,” was Nelson’s appraisal of Ulster’s newest signing, Christian Lealiifano.
Until the Australian out-half’s arrival, Nelson was slated to be Ulster’s first choice 10 in the absence of Paddy Jackson. While he may get the start this week against the Cheetahs, it’s likely Nelson will find himself in a backup role again sooner rather than later.
Not that he’s letting that get in the way of the team success.
“I’ve chatted to (Lealiifano) a good bit, trying to help him out with the plays,” Nelson reveals.
He’s very knowledgeable about the game and hopefully that’s something I can learn off him as well.
There’s the silver lining: a chance to take over when the temporary signing returns to the Brumbies in January.
With Operations Director Bryn Cunningham saying that Ulster will ‘assess their options’ once the Wallaby’s short-term deal ends, what better option than someone from within the squad?
First, however, is getting fit.
“I’ve had a good pre-season, a full pre-season which I haven’t had for a while, and I’m ready to go,” he says with enthusiasm. “I’m really looking forward to the start of the season. Hopefully I’ll get a good injury-free run and plenty of game time.
“It’s difficult (being injured). You just want to get into a rhythm and you only get that from game on game. It’s difficult but at the end of last year, I was just glad to get some game time having been out for so long.
“But now I’ve had a full pre-season I feel a lot sharper and ready to go for the start of the season.”
The question is, are Ulster? Because if you look at the pre-season results, it doesn’t exactly bode well for what’s coming this season in what is a massive campaign for Les Kiss and his charges.
Defeats to Wasps and Northampton aren’t terrible, but the stats tell a different story, in particular the 80 points they conceded over the two games.
But, while they say you should never put too much stock into friendlies, Nelson says they’re balancing the positives with the negatives ahead of this week’s opener against the Cheetahs.
“There were areas (against Northampton) in the first half we were good and it’s important we build on those, and we all know the second half wasn’t good enough and we have to step up to that ourselves,” he acknowledges.
You have 30-odd players playing in those games, you have different combinations, boys coming on and off, so we’ll put that to one side now.
“This is the season starting now and we’re massively focused for Friday night.”
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
