IT HAS been a tough road back for Anthony Tupou.
The 31-year-old will return to the Cronulla Sharks team for the first time since round nine, when he suffered a broken jaw against the New Zealand Warriors.
In a twist of fate, it is the Warriors who Tupou and Cronulla meet on Saturday in Auckland.
Both Tupou and the Sharks will look to overcome the memories of that night when the Warriors stole a 20-16 victory thanks to a Shaun Johnson try in the dying stages.
Tupou said he felt he was lucky just to be back on the field.
"It's been a hard month of training," he said.
"I'm feeling confident. I'm just really excited to play."
Tupou said he had no ill feelings towards Konrad Hurrell, the man whose knee inflicted the damage.
"I spoke to him and he felt bad, I didn't feel like he needed to apologise because I don't think he meant to hurt me," he said.
"But just to see him and to know how he felt about it that was enough for me."
The return of Tupou could not have come at a better time for coach Shane Flanagan.
The Sharks will be without Andrew and David Fifita, who have been stood down by the club until an investigation into their conduct at a junior rugby league match is complete.
Cronulla are also missing Luke Lewis for between two and three weeks with a medial ligament strain in his knee.
SHARKS
Michael Gordon, Sosaia Feki, Gerard Beale, Ricky Leutele, Valentine Holmes, Jack Bird, Jeff Robson, Chris Heighington, Michael Ennis, Sam Tagataese, Anthony Tupou, Wade Graham, Paul Gallen (c). Interchange: Ben Barba, Matt Prior, Tinirau Arona, Jayson Bukuya, Junior Roqica.
