UNFORTUNATELY I’m going to have a slightly different outlook on the Newport Gwent Dragons environment for a while because playing duties have changed to rehabilitation and watching the other boys at training and in games.

I’ve usually been pretty lucky when it comes to long-term injuries but unfortunately it looks like I could be spending a bit of time on the sidelines.

Having had a few niggles, ranging from the standard 'corn beef' calf to elbow tendinitis, it appears my left wrist is the one injury that has finally caught up with me.

It flared up during the win against Cardiff Blues on Boxing Day but I missed the return game with the concussion, which was a blessing in disguise, on New Year’s Day to allow a small number of injuries to settle down over a week.

This did help and I was back for the Ospreys game then our wins against Newcastle and Stade Francais that earned a home quarter-final in the European Rugby Challenge Cup but the wrist will require more than just time to heal.

The break for the first LV= Cup game allowed me to get it scanned and unfortunately the news from the MRI wasn’t good – I need to have surgery because of ligament rupture and potentially I will be out for quite a while.

It’s too early to say how long it will be, and the picture will be clearer in a few weeks after Mr Rodgers can actually see the true extent of the damage. It could be the end of my season but I’ll have to just wait and see.

It’s a shame but I knew something wasn’t right, just not to that extent.

It is a mixture between relief that something has been found to prove to yourself and others that there is an issue and then hoping that it isn't too long term and serious. The specialist said that it could have been a career-ending injury had it been left undetected any longer; I never expected to hear that and it was pretty alarming.

It is something that does frighten every player when you think of life after rugby, hence why insurances and interests off the field are so important.

I’ve been strapping my wrist and the functionality has been fine in games, in fact it has been more of a problem in terms of conditioning because it’s stopped me doing weights.

Huw Bevan and Ryan Harris probably find the likes of me a nightmare when having to modify weights and conditioning because of minor issues after many games (often preferring spa therapy), yet it hasn't helped the physique at all over Christmas!

As I’ve written before, no rugby player is every 100 per cent fit and we all play with niggles. I’ve pretty much avoided big injuries through the years and my operations have usually been clean-outs at the end of the season.

I face a new challenge now and it will be hard to be on the sidelines while the boys are in action in the Guinness Pro12 and a European quarter-final, which is one of the hardest things to miss out on.

Over the next few weeks I won’t be able to drive – I knew I should have gone for an automatic! – and I am sure Ashley Smith and Rhys Buckley will be sick of being my taxi drivers. No doubt they will be putting me on their expense returns.

But I still want to be involved and my role will change from being a player to perhaps being more of an analyst of other teams in line outs and defence, identifying threats and planning special moves.

It’s going to be a frustrating period for but it’s one of the risks of the job, unfortunately injury is just part and parcel of being a rugby player. Supporting the region in as many ways as possible off the pitch is now on the cards.

IN last week’s column I wrote that I would be shaking buckets at the Exeter game with a few mates ahead of the Race to the Sun Brecon Beacons for Action Medical Research challenge this summer. We managed to raise £455 so thanks to the generous fans who donated on the day.