You can forgive the wry smile Blues Women loose forward Charmaine McMenamin gives when injuries are mentioned. She's unfortunately a bit of an old hand at them, with the latest an ACL injury on a knee that she jokes is now more artificial than natural.
"I'd say I'm no stranger to injuries, I think that's my seventh," McMenamin said after her side's tight 17-10 loss to Chiefs Manawa in their Super Rugby Aupiki match on Saturday.
"It was really nice to be back out on the pitch, especially being with the girls. It was nice to be actually out running instead of training."
The 33-year-old was in a similar situation in 2022, after she returned from a serious neck injury that was picked up in 2021's Auckland premier women's club final. The resulting treatment saw her receive a spinal fusion, that she remarkably recovered from to play a big role in the Black Ferns' memorable World Cup campaign, only for her to pick up the serious knee injury. It's meant that she's been out of rugby for most of the last 18 months.
It was a tough situation for the 33-test Black Fern, but McMenamin's return on the weekend off the bench saw her get through around half an hour's worth of work.
"I think we didn't capitalise on some key moments for us," she reflected on the loss to Manawa, which ended with a disallowed Blues try that would have levelled the scores had the handy conversion gone over.
\Charmaine McMenamin of the Blues charges forward during the round two Super Rugby Aupiki match between Blues and Chiefs Manawa. Photo: Hannah Peters
"But there was a lot of moments in the game despite the disallowed try. We just gotta get better at finishing and executing."
McMenamin debuted for the Black Ferns over a decade ago and has also represented the Kiwi Ferns in 2016. Despite going through a long period of change in rugby that has seen the women's game turn professional, she says that things aren't quite where they should be for the Aupiki sides.
"Mate, I still think it's not long enough," McMenamin said when asked about the expanded competition this season.
"It would be good if the competition had quarters or if there was a bit more. I know there's only four teams, but I still think the condensed weeks are really hard and especially for our full-time workers, that makes it really tough. They pretty much have no days off this whole six weeks."
McMenamin predicts that the effects of a schedule like that will take their toll.
"So probably in four weeks you'll see some burnout from some girls."
Despite the controversy surrounding their opponents this weekend, McMenamin has been impressed with the Hurricanes Poua, who recorded an impressive 36-29 win over Matatū in Wellington.
"Poua have been really awesome," she said.
"I think they've really developed their game from last year. They've got a few big threats in the forward pack and in the midfield."
The two sides meet at Bell Park in Pakuranga at 2pm Saturday afternoon. Chiefs Manawa host Matatū at 4.35pm in the round's other match, as part of a double header with their men's side who take on the Fijian Drua at 7pm.