thanrldiva
Matthew Rodwell
Michael Hagan is hoping the new season will be a lot better than the last, but the Newcastle coach still has a number of injury concerns including star halfback Andrew Johns.
Johns spent the first seven weeks of last season sidelined with a broken jaw, but after just one match back made a sensational return to representative football, leading the New South Wales Blues victory in State of Origin II.
But Johns is out again after undergoing knee surgery in the off-season, unable to start training with teammates who returned to work on Monday.
Johns is still unable to run but Hagan is happy with the recovery his skipper is making and told ABC Sport he is confident he'll be training soon.
"Andrew Johns is progressing particularly well, he's back doing most things, he's not running yet, but he's looking to start running in the next week to two weeks and should be pretty well on track to start the season," Hagan said.
An injury cloud also looms over back rower Daniel Abraham who is still recovering from a badly broken leg suffered in the same match as Johns' jaw injury.
Newcastle faces a first round clash with Parramatta when the 2006 NRL season kicks off in March.
Johns spent the first seven weeks of last season sidelined with a broken jaw, but after just one match back made a sensational return to representative football, leading the New South Wales Blues victory in State of Origin II.
But Johns is out again after undergoing knee surgery in the off-season, unable to start training with teammates who returned to work on Monday.
Johns is still unable to run but Hagan is happy with the recovery his skipper is making and told ABC Sport he is confident he'll be training soon.
"Andrew Johns is progressing particularly well, he's back doing most things, he's not running yet, but he's looking to start running in the next week to two weeks and should be pretty well on track to start the season," Hagan said.
An injury cloud also looms over back rower Daniel Abraham who is still recovering from a badly broken leg suffered in the same match as Johns' jaw injury.
Newcastle faces a first round clash with Parramatta when the 2006 NRL season kicks off in March.
