Injured Waratahs and Wallabies winger Lachie Turner is adamant he'll make a full recovery after tearing his hamstring off the bone in Saturday's trial against Samoa.
Turner will consult his surgeon on Wednesday to determine his next course of action but is expected to be sidelined for at least six months, meaning he's a long shot to feature at all in the Waratahs' upcoming Super Rugby campaign.
The 24-year-old speed merchant admits he's still coming to terms with his latest setback but is committed to helping the squad behind the scenes during his extended layoff.
"It's still pretty fresh and it's very disappointing but at the same time there's nothing that can be gained from kicking dirt," Turner said in his first media interview since suffering the injury on Tuesday.
"I'll go in and see the surgeon tomorrow and then go under the knife and we'll know more after that."
"They'll probably get in there and find out exactly what's going on and they can hopefully put me back together again."
"I've been having a few chats with guys around the office and trying to figure out ways that I can best help the squad now moving forward."
Quizzed on the likely timing of his return, Turner concedes his injury is very much an unknown quantity but vowed to return 'better than I was before the injury'.
"We don't really know because no sprinter has really gone through this before, we've got guys like Richard Stanford who did a similar injury to me and he was back after five and a half months, but then there have been other guys who because of complications have been troubled for the next three years," he explained.
"So it's just one of those things. I've got absolute faith in the surgeon, I've had a bit to do with him in the past and I'm sure I'll come out and after whatever time period it is I'll be better than where I was before the injury."
Turner added when asked to recall the incident that cost him his season: "Being an outside back I don't see too many rucks but I decided to stick my head in one and a couple of Samoans used me as play-doh and stretched me a little bit too far."
"It was just one of those freak of nature things ... one guy lifted my leg so all my weight went through my right leg and it got caught straight and all my weight went over the top of it and unfortunately my hamstring couldn't take it and it snapped."
"I can't get to upset about it and I've just got to move on."
The modest winger says he won't be missed by the Waratahs, insisting there's ample talent within the squad to cover his loss.
He named Tom Kingston and Brackin Karauria-Henry as the front-runners to take his spot on the right wing
"The guys have been going really well all pre-season, you've got Tom Kingston who played six games for us last year and did extremely well and he's just growing into that role, but you've also got a young guy called Brackin Karauria-Henry who's been absolutely phenomenal all pre-season," he said.
"I don't think I'll be missed to be honest with you, there's still plenty of talent out there."