Wigan Warriors hooker Tom Forber has opened up the horrific-sounding injury that brought his 2025 season to a premature end.
Forber made six appearances for the Warriors last season before going on to feature a handful of times for Oldham, too, in what was undoubtedly a year of learning for the 22-year-old.
But, his campaign was halted in August by an arm injury that required surgery and a lengthy time on the sidelines to overcome. Ultimately, the Wigan man made his playing return earlier this month in the loss to North Wales Crusaders and he’ll be pushing for another run out this week as the Warriors take on Hull FC for Liam Marshall’s testimonial.
Forber is highly rated at the Brick Community Stadium and he signed a five-year contract with the club last season to prove it. And, it seems as though he’ll get plenty of opportunities in impress in the cherry and white this year, following the departure of Kruise Leeming.
Leeming’s switch to Catalans Dragons means he approaches the new season as the second choice number nine, behind Brad O’Neill, and the pair can be expected to share the role this year, with Forber likely to be used off the bench.
The hooker will be determined to take the next step in his career then and as the new season approaches, he has been reflecting on the difficulties he has had to overcome.
“I fractured my ulna bone, and my radius got dislocated and came around the other side of my forearm,” Forber told the official Wigan website. “As I did that, it basically snapped all my ligaments in my wrist. I needed to get the bones back in place and have surgery on my ligaments to repair and stitch them back together. I was in a cast for about 12 weeks.
“It’s probably the worst injury I’ve had, worse than my ankle the year before. I found it quite difficult, but the group we’ve got here is class – they made me feel part of the group even though sometimes you have dark and lonely days. It’s just good to be back out there.”
He added: “We’re still in pre-season, so I want to keep getting fitter, faster, stronger – hopefully do a lot more contact with my wrist and make sure I’m ready to go for the start of the season. Hopefully I’ll have an injury-free year.”
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