Swift Saab strides out in successful return from injury

After lighting up Las Vegas in early March, Sea Eagles flyer Jason Saab was forced to endure a frustrating five weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring strain before returning in style against the Titans.

Saab ran for 160 metres and had four tackle breaks, a line break and a try assist as Manly snuck home in an 11-try thriller, relishing the opportunity to be able to hit top gear again after his lay-off.

“I definitely had a lot of fun, back to scoring tries and attacking, which is probably the best part of my game,” Saab told NRL.com after the match.

“I probably have got to fix up a few defensive things, but that just comes with lessons and getting back in the groove of things, so all good things to take into next week.”

For his part, coach Anthony Seibold said it was “nice to have him back” and was happy with Saab’s involvements in his return, with his trademark speed on display.

“He had a really good pre-season, I thought he was really good in Vegas but unfortunately, we haven’t seen him since,” Seibold said.

“He can make a half-chance into something. He did that once or twice in the first half. It’s great to have him back.”

Now in his sixth season in the NRL, Saab is no stranger to setbacks, including a long-term knee injury which cut short his 2022 season, but he said the process to return was different for each injury.

“It was probably a bit more nerve-wracking than what I did my knee, bit of a different injury,” Saab said.

“They have a higher chance of reoccurring, but I just tried not to let it stress me.

“I thought to myself, ‘well, whatever's going to happen is going to happen’, that's just kind of how these injuries work and I just put my trust in God and got through it unscathed.

“I also put trust in the professional performance team here that are doing all the numbers, doing the sessions to get me back right and when they say that you're cleared to be back, that's when I hand it over to God and go out there and do my thing and whatever comes of it, comes of it.”

While the Sea Eagles got the two points against the winless Titans, it was a seesawing and scrappy affair, with Saab saying his side knew it would be a tough game.

“I know the last team that started on a losing streak under Des [Hasler] went on to finish top four, so you can't get too ahead of yourself,” Saab said.

“They've been playing really good footy, and they're building each week, and they're getting better and better.

“It was definitely a game I wanted to win, but I was real nervous for it, because even though they're struggling, it's really tough to get two points in NRL these days.

“The last few games, we have been up and been going really well, and then we kind of just probably let our foot off the throat a bit.

“We've been a team in the past that's struggled with starting fast, and now we've got that under control, I think we start very well, but now we need to keep that consistency going throughout the 80 minutes.”