Warrington Wolves centre on recovery from second ACL injury

The anterior cruciate knee ligament injury is among the worst they can suffer and even with immediate surgery and sustained rehabilitation, they can take up to and even over a year to recover from.

Suffering that injury just once would have anyone cursing their luck – so spare a though for Warrington Wolves’ Connor Wrench.

Having torn his ACL for the first time in August 2022, the centre returned just under a year later looking to build on the promise he had shown upon first breaking into the Wire first-team.

In July, however, disaster struck again as he limped out of the 48-0 victory over Huddersfield Giants. Days later, it was confirmed he had suffered the same injury in the other knee.

That ended a 2024 campaign in which he had scored four tries in 10 games and his rehab will continue throughout pre-season – he is expected to be back in contention around the Easter period.

However, the Warrington-born speedster is taking things in his stride.

“I’ve only just turned 23 and have done two ACLs – it doesn’t really get much worse,” he said.

“As bad as it sounds, I’ll still be 23 when I get back. I’m still young and have plenty of time ahead.

“If these are the worst injuries I get in my career, I’ll take it.

“There was a bit of “why me?” at first, but I had a lot of messages from other players who had done two separate ACLs that was encouraging.

“It is uncommon, but I’ve learned to take things like this on the chin and go again. I’ve got good people around me who I know can help me through it.

“I’ve been positive about it – being negative will just bring you down.

“I’ll train hard and hopefully come back in a better physical state to play.”

His first ACL was suffered during the crucial victory over Toulouse Olympique that effectively preserved Warrington’s Super League status during a torrid 2022 campaign. He scored two tries that night, the second of which came after he had initially played on through the injury.

The Huddersfield game in which he sustained his second season-ending blow was also a try-scoring appearance for Wrench, who outlined a key difference in his recovery process this time around.

Wrench touches down against Huddersfield in July during what turned out to be his final appearance of 2024 (Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com) “It was the exact same mechanism movement, just on the other knee,” he said.

“Once you do your ACL on one knee, I got told you’re something like 30 per cent more likely to do the other one.

“On the bright side, I’ve now got two new knees!

“I’m finding it a lot better than last time – I waited a little bit longer to get the surgery this time, so the knee had chance to heal a bit.

“It meant I went into the surgery with a better knee and have obviously come out with one.

“It’s allowed me to crack on with a little bit more stuff at this stage than I was able to last time, so I’m feeling good and I feel like I’m ahead of where I was.

“It’s a lot easier this time having been through it before – I know what’s coming and what to expect, what worked and what didn’t.

“It will probably be April time but I’m feeling good and using it to my advantage.

“I’ve had a lot of injuries through trying to push myself into the team, so I want to use this time wisely. I want to get fit, stay fit and then cement a place.”

When he does return, Wrench may find getting into the side a challenge given the depth in his preferred position.

As well as established first-team options Toby King, Rodrick Tai and club captain Stefan Ratchford, his fellow academy graduate Arron Lindop enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2024 – part of which came while Wrench was on the sidelines.

However, the England Knights cap is very much in “cross that bridge when we come to it” mode.

“I’m pretty confident in my own ability to fight for a place. I’ve done it since coming into the first team and that won’t change,” he said.

“I’m not really thinking about that at the moment – all I can focus on is getting fit.

“When I do, I’ll fight for my place but until then, I’ll be cheering the lads on.”

Wrench celebrating his try at Hull KR in Round Four (Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)