Hollywoodbets Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi’s recent form earned him tons of praise, but it’s come off the back of a lot of hard work and overcoming challenges.
His last two seasons have been marred by injuries and he’s had to lift himself following one disappointment after the other.
Fassi is playing with a lot of confidence, freedom and enjoyment and it showed in his outstanding performance on the day.
He credits his form with being in the right physical space after the disappointments of the previous two seasons.
“The most important thing for me is my health and keeping fit,” he admits. “In the past two seasons, injuries got to me and I didn’t get consistency and game time, but this year I’ve played every game and I’m really happy to have been able to play consistently.
“My performance was being able to pull out a few tricks and helping to put the team on the front foot where I could.”
Looking back, he explains that he suffered back-to-back injuries and was out for a total of 16 weeks, which was a difficult and testing time for him to endure.
“I played for SA ’A’ and after being injured, was out for 10 weeks, then played three games before breaking my tibia and that was another six weeks out. Then I came back, played three games before the season ended. After that, the big focus for me was on my recovery and putting a lot of time into that. I had to face reality and worked hard during the pre-season.
“Now, every times I play or train, I feel fresh and strong.”
