Clubb talks injury troubles ahead of Challenge Cup final

Wigan Warriors forward Tony Clubb has had a very rough time with injuries over the past couple of seasons.

With his side ready to take on Hull FC in the Challenge Cup final on Saturday, Clubb has been reflecting on the times he has had to deal with as well as the fact he had a kidney removed in April.

But now the former London Bronco is back playing and will return to his home city at the weekend, and hope to leave with silverware.

“The Challenge Cup is massive for me, being from down south, and it’s the one that I’ve not won,” Clubb told Sky Sports.

“I’ve played in every one bar this, so it will be a very proud day for me.”

Talking about the neck injury he sustained last season which kept him out of the Grand Final win over Warrington, Clubb said: “I went for a low tackle and I got crunched up,”

“It stopped the oxygen to my brain and it knocked me out. I lost a bit of feeling in my arm and I went for a scan and they told me I had a disc pressed on my spinal cord.

“I had to have my throat cut and a metal cage put in my spine. That will be in there with me for life.”

Clubb returned to action in February but was soon on the sidelines again, due to a non-functioning kidney. He underwent keyhole surgery and made a swift return, although things didn’t look too bright when he initially found out about the news.

“When they said they were going to have to take it out I thought, ‘Well that’s it. I can’t play without one of my organs’,” he added.

“I told my wife that it could possibly be the end of it. I had a few days when I thought of so many different things, ‘Why me? Why has it happened?’

“Even to this day, they can’t tell me why it happened, I don’t know whether I’ve took a whack on it or it’s happened from birth.

“But I went to see the specialist and he said, ‘You’re going to be fine. We’ll whip it out and you’ll be back in six to eight weeks’.