Wollongong Wolves forward Jake Trew’s road to recovery has featured plenty of bumps, but the 23-year-old is finally back amongst the goals in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men.
Football can be cruel – something Trew is all too familiar with. In 2019, as a bright-eyed youngster, Trew stepped onto Kardinia Park to make his A-League Men’s debut for Western Sydney Wanderers.
Just four days later, he went down in training with something that would see him out of the game for years. He had sustained an injury to his left anterior cruciate ligament. This wasn’t the first time he had suffered this injury as just a couple of years earlier he had an operation on his right knee following an ACL issue.
During the rehabilitation period, just as Trew was getting back to his feet, it was discovered that he needed yet another operation on his left knee. He was then forced to go under the knife a further two times which led to the ALM prospect losing out on two years of football.
It’s that this point that many would call it quits, after so much pain and a series of operations maybe a football career isn’t going to happen.
‘I would’ve played at a high level if it wasn’t for injuries’ rings loudly. A resilient Trew didn’t think this way.
Despite setback after setback as well as those five operations on his knees, he said he never wanted to give up on his footballing dream.
“It definitely wasn’t easy that’s for sure,” Trew said.
“I’d just recover from one injury and then I need to have another operation.
“I wanted to get back to playing because I knew if I didn’t at least try to get back, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”
Trew explained that it was concentrating on the progress he was making in his recovery as opposed to lamenting why he wasn’t playing, that kept him going.
“It was tough mentally, going from probably the biggest achievement in my footballing career to doing my ACL. It was tough to digest,” he explained.
“Getting to do a squat properly and then you progress to running and those little achievements along the way. That made it a lot easier instead of focussing on ‘why am I not playing’?”.
He made his return to football with National Premier League NSW Men’s side Blacktown City in the first half of the 2022 season but was struggling get enough gametime. So Trew played the second half of the season with Illawarra Premier League side Wollongong Olympic. It was a successful stint for the forward at Olympic, getting a consistent run of games and claiming the championship.
He received a phone call from newly-appointed Wollongong Wolves coach David Carney during the offseason and decided to return to where his career started for 2023.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for Trew so far this year, however.
It took him until round five to bag his first goal back in Wolves colours but was then sent off in stoppage time in the same game. He consequently had to sit out the following week as the South Coast side longed for a solution up top with captain Lachlan Scott out injured.
Trew started his first game in round seven and hasn’t looked back since scoring three goals in that time including a brace in a 3-0 win against Central Coast Mariners in round eight.
The striker is now the Wolves’ top goal scorer this season and says he is targeting at least 10 goals by the end of it. He believes it’s all about taking your chance when it comes.
“You’ve got to prove yourself in the team,” Trew acknowledged.
“When you get an opportunity to have a shot, just take it and take it with confidence.
“It’s not a myth that when you start scoring you can’t stop! You get that feeling in your stomach that you’re going to score the next week.
“I’m just going to keep rocking up each week and hopefully get goals.”
Trew’s Wollongong travel to Christie Park in round nine to face NWS Spirit FC. The side will be keen to maintain the momentum of last week’s victory, against a Spirit team who are winless in their last five.
-Feature by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
