Twick or Treat

After a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Luke Dorn is feeling refreshed and ready for the crucial run-in.

Australian feeling young again as he nears return to action

It's amazing to realise just how little time is left in the season - the run-in seems to have arrived in a hurry. I really didn't think we had so few games left. Because of that I'm looking forward to getting back to action after an extended spell on the sidelines with a broken leg. Before this injury I'd done a rib cartilage that kept me out for a few weeks last year, then previously to that I strained a quad. I think in total I've missed four games in four years, so it's been a bit of a pain being out for this long. Whether or not I'm fit enough to play against St Helens this week is not certain yet, but it is just great to be in full training. I came back to training like an eager 18-year-old out to impress - I was full of enthusiasm having had to train by myself for so many weeks. After a long time away from your team-mates you just want to get involved in everything. Early on I had to ease myself in a little, making sure I pulled out of certain drills. Of course, there is always that concern in the back of your mind when you come back from injury. Having suffered a break there's always a little bit of apprehension going into physical contact, but once you get the first knock in training then you just get up forget about what's happened in the past. Now I'm coming back in time for the final few weeks of the regular season with bags of enthusiasm. At the start of the year you have a number of weeks with that freshness of a brand new start but eventually the grind gets to you. Now it feels like I've had a mini pre-season, meaning I'm refreshed and ready. It should also mean I stay fresh now right through until the end of the year, as too should the other players at Harlequins who are just about to come back. We've had a few guys out in recent weeks, the likes of Chad Randall and Rob Purdham, but now we are all going to be returning at the right time of the year to make a surge for a place in the play-offs. Results haven't gone our way recently but thankfully confidence hasn't dipped. Watching the boys and being back involved in training has shown me that heads are not dropping just because we've lost a few in a row. Instead the over-riding emotion is one of frustration - we are defending and attacking well at times, then at others it's been poor. It's a matter of execution because we know we have our best squad, depth-wise, in a long time. The youngsters have been able to step in and do a job for those of us out injured and although we just haven't been able to get over the line in recent weeks for whatever reason, the experience they've gained can really benefit us come the end of the season. While we may have slipped a position or two in the table we know that if we win our game in hand then we would be equal with those just above us. It's certainly not panic stations yet. We've got St Helens this week and then Bradford back-to-back, so these are three key games. If we can get the majority of the points in those then our run-in will seem a lot better and the pressure will be off of us. Saints - who are suffering injury problems of their own - are next up and Wakefield didn't do use any favours last week by winning at Knowsley Road. But the marketing staff have done a good job this week for what will 'Down Under Day' on Saturday at the Twickenham Stoop, so there will be a good crowd in. At least I should feel right at home, too.