Nearly 600 days since he last ran onto an NRL field, Corey Allan has returned with a point to prove and a debt he's determined to repay.
The 26-year-old winger completed a remarkable comeback at Magic Round, taking his place on the left flank for the Dragons against the Wests Tigers after enduring 596 days out of first grade due to a torn ACL.
The injury wasn't even sustained on the field, but during a gym session in the 2024 pre-season.
The damage was severe, the surgery confronting, and the road back brutal.
For weeks after the operation, Allan's mobility was so limited that he relied on his partner just to get out of bed or into the shower. Painkillers offered little reprieve and plenty of side effects.
โI couldn't even get out of bed without my partner, she had to carefully hold my leg and I'd have to swing around,โ Allan said, speaking with AAP.
โI was constipated from all the painkillers. Nothing was really good at that stage.โ
The isolation of rehab forced the former Maroons representative to reflect more broadly.
With footy on pause, he began planning for life after it, enrolling in a carpentry course and exploring the possibility of joining the fire brigade. The injury, he admits, was a circuit-breaker.
โIt sort of made me think about what I'm going to do after footy,โ he said.
โYou honestly think footy's forever when you're in it. Once that happened, I sort of said, 'Wow, what am I going to do? I better start doing something'. It kept my mind busy as well when I was injured.โ
The Dragons, however, never let him drift.
Coach Shane Flanagan made it clear throughout Allan's recovery that the club saw value in him beyond just what he could immediately deliver.
When Mat Feagai and Christian Tuipulotu went down, Flanagan gave Allan the nod in his trademark blunt style: โYou're playing. Don't mess up.โ
Allan didn't. His return included a crucial try-saving tackle on Jahream Bula and a performance that quietly underlined how much work had gone into getting back.
It was an outing built on grit not flair and a timely reminder of what he can offer a side still finding its rhythm under Flanagan's tenure.
โI've got a point to prove and repay the faith,โ Allan said.
โ(The Dragons) could've dropped me after I did my knee, I was only there for a year. It was probably easier for them to just say, 'we're not going to sign you again'. It was sort of a gamble, coming back from a knee like this. I've stuck to my rehab and really want to show them that they made the right decision keeping me around.โ
