TEN months ago Richard Bryan wondered whether he had any future in rugby, clutching his knee in agony on the Rodney Parade pitch after falling awkwardly near the end of the game against Edinburgh.

It was the injury any sportsman dreads - the cruciate ligament had gone in the knee and a complete reconstruction was required with no certainty about the outcome.

But the Newport Gwent Dragons number eight refused to countenance anything other than a full recovery, and his faith has now been justified with a full return to the senior side and a place in the starting line-up in the major games so far.

"The injury didn't even come through contact," he recalled. "I just sidestepped at the end of the game, right in the 80th minute, and it just went. I had never felt anything like it, I was in a huge amount of pain and felt pretty desperate.

"When I first did it I didn't realise how long it would be, maybe three or four months, so it was really hard. It was the longest I'd been out injured and it was a struggle watching all the boys playing, it was a case of trying to make the best of a bad job.

"But everyone at the club was really good which helped me get through it, and I knew there were other players like Ben Breeze, Kevin Morgan and Peter Sidoli who had recovered from the same type of injury."

Expert medical assistance was also on hand from an unlikely quarter - his wife. For Sarah Bryan is a fully qualified physiotherapist based at the BUPA hospital in Cardiff who is completing a masters degree and is going to the Commonwealth Games in Australia next year attached to the Wales netball and hockey squads.

Gradually Bryan could see the wood from the trees. "When training resumed in June it was straight back in and a case of making my way again, culminating in the pre-season games and Glasgow," he said.

"I could remember the first time I ran again, the first time I took contact in training and that kind of thing, you've just got to be positive.

"It's superb to be back, there's a great spirit in the squad this season, the coaching is different and it's coming through. I think all the talk about needing star names is media driven for they don't always do what they say they will.

"It's all about how good a team you are, if you've got a good team spirit and work ethic that counts for a lot.

"I played at Bath when the answer to a crisis was to sign a star name which wasn't always the answer."

Bryan is quietly hopeful and confident about Dragons' prospects. "Obviously Paul Turner has set out what he wants to achieve, but it's one step at a time, it's early days yet but the foundations are there and it's up to us to make the most of it," he said.

"It won't get much tougher than next week when we are away to the Ospreys and Leinster in three days. It's a short turnaround against two of the better sides in the Celtic League so it will be a big test for the squad. But hopefully we can do something this season."