Sam Hewitt looking to come back firing!

After a tough lay-off in 2025, Sam Hewitt talks about his recovery, time away from the game and his plans for 2026

Since his injury in the away game at Wigan Warriors, Sam Hewitt has been through the mill. Two surgeries later, and on the comeback trail with rehab now stepping up a notch, Sam chats and explains exactly how the last few weeks have been, despite admitting it got off to a slow start.

“It’s been pretty slow. I broke my jaw against Wigan. A lot of people will have seen that when I came off there was blood coming out of my mouth. I went into the hospital on Saturday and stayed overnight. I had an operation on Sunday, from there I had my jaw wired and a plate put in to fix the crack. Unfortunately I went back the week after and it was deemed to have not worked properly so needed another operation. That put me back a couple of weeks so the recovery has been slow.”

“It was difficult to eat and I struggled with my speech at first when it was healing, but now I’m seeing a bit of progression.”

People who aren’t well versed in the medical process, would jump to conclusions and assume that Sam would still be able to run, be out on the field with minimal contact, but that is far from the truth. Sam explains a little more about the recovery process and what he has been doing to combat the challenges the injury has thrown up.

“When you have a broken jaw, people assume that you can still do certain stuff, but with having four plates put in, I’ve not been able to run or lift weights. They don’t want any force going through the plates. They want them to set.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of work at Big Box Gym, on the machine based weights, to take the resistance and to take away any pressure through my head and my jaw. I’ve been on the exercise bike, and in the pool to keep my fitness up.”

Being away from the first team environment, can be quite daunting, a lonely place and mental health issues must take it’s toll. But for Sam, he’s been taking the right steps to keep his focus on recovery, whilst also taking time to look after himself, and be upbeat about the situation he is currently in.

“It’s highlighted through my injury, the rehab group can be a lonely place. Spending time at Big Box I’ve been on my own up there a fair bit. Now though, I’m getting back in the main group gym, so I’m in and around training and getting the social side back into daily life.”

“Tom Burgess spilled the beans on socials, I’ve spent some time on the Golf Course. I’ve tried to keep active without doing things that are too strenuous. I’ve spent time with family too. It’s what is important, keeping in touch with family and seeing them whenever you can.”

2026 will be the time that Sam will don the Claret & Gold jersey again. He admits that this year has been disappointing, but has plans in place to come back and hit the ground running before pre-season even begins.

“It’s massively important in this next few weeks, for me to set a good foundation ahead of pre season so I can come back firing.”

“If i’m honest with myself, it hasn’t been the best season, my form hasn't been there and then it finished off with a serious injury. I’ll get away after the season has finished, and then come back and get some extra training done before the lads come back in. Hopefully 2026 will be a very good year for me.”

We wish Sam the very best in his continued rehab, and look forward to documenting his recovery for the Giants fans.