“When I was going through all the treatment I would see other people a lot worse off than me, so I was never going to be whingeing,” Sam says. “I’m lucky. There’s a lot of people worse off than me and at the end of the day footy isn’t everything.”
Sam, of course, is alluding to the events of mid-year when the discovery a small lump led to the diagnosis of testicular cancer and warranted chemotherapy treatment for the man barely a month or two into his tenure as a Carlton draftee.
Seems so long ago now for the 24 year-old key position player, who comfortably negotiated the 14-kilometre City2Surf at the weekend in a time of 73 minutes and 43 seconds.
Admittedly a tad sore for the run, the big fella by his own admission “pulled up pretty well really”.
“I’ve been back in training for the best part of three to four weeks now, but this was really the first time I extended myself. I wasn’t worried about my time and I certainly wasn’t out to set any records, but I had good fun,” Sam explains.
“There was 85,000 people running, I was probably the 70,000th to take off and I finished around 15,000th overall, which sounds pretty good when you’ve beaten 70,000 home.”
Next on Sam’s “to do” list is a 120-kilometre ride for the Amy Gillett Foundation in mid-September, and Jeremy Laidler will be amongst a select group of Carlton players also committing foot to pedal. As Sam adds: “This is all money in the bank for me”. . . it’s about getting a good aerobic base in for next year without being silly about it”.
Sam Rowe ahead of the City2Surf last weekend.
Come October, Sam will join the boys on the annual footy trip, before making for Mexico where an old Norwood mate Dylan Pfitzner will exchange vows.
It’s all in keeping with the grand plan of getting his mind and body right for the 2013 pre-season and beyond - not that the mindset has ever really been a concern.
“I’ve definitely tried to keep busy and keep a positive outlook, although I never really thought otherwise,” he says. “It has been difficult watching on knowing you can’t be out there, but that’s the hand you’re dealt and you deal with it.”
Though he initially harboured hope of playing a game or three before year’s end, Sam acknowledges that time was always going to be the enemy and that impetuosity was a potential pitfall.
As he says: “I can’t be too impatient. My worst nightmare now would be to get injured now and face an interrupted start to pre-season, so I’ll just make sure I’m cherry ripe going into next year”.
