Sam Day back from mystery illness and raring to get his body right. Picture: Darren England Source: News Corp Australia
SUNS forward Sam Day returned to work on Monday to begin a catch-up mission after having the pre-Christmas training block wiped out by a mystery illness.
Pre-seasons are supposed to be tough but for the 22-year-old it was pure hell.
It was the time of year when everyone at the club was training the house down in a desperate bid to impress new coach Rodney Eade.
Teammates were setting personal bests while Day seemed to be running backwards.
It was the same in the gym.
Football department staff were at first concerned that Day had let himself go on his holidays. Then, when he showed no signs of improvement, they were worried about his motivation.
Eventually in late December they realised he was ill and it was discovered he had a 10cm bacterial cyst in his stomach that had stripped him of a few kilograms and sapped all his energy.
Football manager Marcus Ashcroft said it was suspected he contracted the bug while holidaying in Fiji in October but they could not confirm that. "We are not entirely sure, who knows exactly where he picked it up, we haven't got to the bottom of that, but it could have been in Fiji,'' he said.
Day did not realise he was ill. He just felt flat.
"This has been a long running one, ever since he started back he hasn't been himself,'' Ashcroft said.
"We didn't know what was wrong, we weren't sure if we needed to push him harder "Eventually in late December it became obvious there was a medical issue.'' Day consulted a number of specialists and was put through a battery of tests and scans.
One treatment option was to attempt to remove the cyst by burning it out but with the Christmas break upon them it was decided medication and a long rest period would return him to full health.
"In a way we are glad there was an issue, because it explained everything for us, and for him,'' he said.
"It was a bit of a relief for him.
"You can imagine as a player and you want to get better, and he is certainly a driven person who takes pride in his performance, he was seeing everyone else getting better and he was falling behind and he started to doubt himself.''
He returned to training on Monday and although he is far from 100 per cent, impressed the footy staff with his work.
Day did not wish to discuss the setback, telling Suns' media staff he would rather wait until he was back to full strength.
Ashcroft said the club was now confident he would be in peak condition for the start of the season.
"Today would have given him a lot of confidence because he was able to get out there and train and he was moving well,'' he said.
"We've still got two months to get him fit so we aren't worried about it all.''
Originally published as Day rejoins Suns after mystery illness
