Flegler goes bananas during long shoulder lay-off

Injured Dolphins prop Thomas Flegler once referred to himself as "the banana man" and he's been amongst the popular fruit a lot in the last year on his family's farm.

The 25-year-old Queensland enforcer has not played in the NRL since round five last year when he sustained nerve damage to his left shoulder.

Flegler was forced to have nerve transfer surgery and the progress, while incremental, has been positive but also frustrating.

While unsure of his return date, Flegler said time on the banana farm in Tully in North Queensland helped him switch off from the difficult situation he found himself in.

"I get home when I can," Flegler said.

"I break up (training) into blocks at the moment, so I do a block, maybe get a week off and then get a bit of time to refresh.

"I come to training and do everything I can there and then, outside of footy, I like to get away from it all and sort of not really think about it."

Flegler works 10-hour days when he goes home but his work is not taxing.

"Well live on the farm now, so there's not much else to do apart from work," Flegler grinned.

"I do the easy work. I sit on a tractor.

"Work starts at 6.30am and stops at 4.30pm and you get a 20-minute break

"I don't have a specific job, because I don't work there all the time."

In 2023 Flegler, wearing the No.8 jersey, captained former club Brisbane against Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium.

Fans, dressed as bananas, got behind a 'Bananas Up for Flegs' campaign and brought bananas to the ground and held them aloft in the eighth minute.

"I didn't really expect it to be honest, but it was pretty cool," he recalled.

What isn't cool is the length of his absence from playing with no finite return date in sight.

"We don't really know at the moment and we don't really want to set a date either in case we are wrong. We are just taking it week by week," he said.

"It is tough sitting on the sideline and going to training and training all the time but it could be a lot worse. There are people out there a lot worse off than myself."

Flegler, a fiery forward, is naturally not over the moon about talking about his injury all the time.

"There's only been a hundred stories a week about it this year," he quipped.

When asked which of those stories was most on the money about his return, he referenced an interview with coach Kristian Woolf who said he was hopeful Flegler would return in 2026.

"I've got a few hurdles we need to get over but everything's tracking pretty well ," Flegler said.

Flegler has been sighted sitting with Woolf in the Dolphins coaches' box.

"I love going to the games and still being around the team and I love sitting up in the box too," he said.

"You've got to look at things from a different point of view. I've learnt that I probably won't be a coach. I couldn't do that. It's not for me."