Final hero Hendy keen to replicate 'ridiculously fun year' after returning to Saints action

George Hendy scored on his return to action last Friday (photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)George Hendy scored on his return to action last Friday (photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
George Hendy scored on his return to action last Friday (photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
In pre-season last year, George Hendy was writing down his goals, bidding to be 'the best player I could at Bedford'.

A year on, he was a Gallagher Premiership champion eager to recover from injury to continue his key role as a member of Saints' regular matchday squad.

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It's fair to say it's been quite some year for the 22-year-old, who was named man of the match in the Premiership final success against Bath after providing a moment of magic to set up Alex Mitchell what proved to be the winning try.

And Hendy, who learned plenty on dual-registration with Bedford Blues in the Championship, said: "Last year was way more than I expected.

"I remember going through my yearly goals of pre-season last year and it was to try to be the best player I could at Bedford.

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"And then, come the first week of the Premiership, George Furbank took a knock and I got given a start and from then on it was just ‘how can I keep pushing myself to get in that matchday 23?’.

"Being involved with the season last year was just ridiculously fun so hopefully we can replicate that this year."

Hendy suffered a foot injury during pre-season, ruling him out of the warm-up matches and the opening four games of the title defence.

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"I broke a bone in my foot about three months ago, just before the pre-season games started, which was a bit annoying," Hendy explained.

"It was Curtis Langdon running over my foot so it was all fun and games. It happens and it was just one of those training injuries but I'm happy to be back now.

"I've been working hard on rehab, trying to get back fit and get my lungs back in shape.

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"It was my first game since the final so it was really nice to get back playing again last Friday."

And what a return it was for Hendy as he scored in the 47-17 victory against Sale Sharks at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

"The way we played, especially in that first half, you can't really ask much more on your return to playing," he said.

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"In the game, it didn't feel any different to what we normally try and normally execute on the pitch.

"Sometimes you can be in a game where nine times out of 10 things don't come off, but it was one of those days where everything we touched turned to gold and it was really fun out there."

Saints haven't had much fun against their next opponents as they have lost their past four matches against Bristol Bears.

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And in each of their past two Premiership trips to Ashton Gate, they have shipped more than a half-century of points.

But Saints are desperate to defend far better this Friday night.

"Everyone's noticed they're looking to run the ball from absolutely anywhere, which will be a really good challenge and really test our defence," Hendy said.

"We've got to try not to make it a basketball score.

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"All of their fixtures previously, it's been who can outscore who, so we're really determined to stop that this week and to try to stop them scoring as much as they have been.

"We've been really focusing on our defence.

"They're pretty quick, pretty lively and they've got some really talented players, especially when they get in open space and they're free to do what they want.

"It's a big challenge this weekend but with the way we've been training this week, we're pretty confident."

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Hendy has one good memory of Ashton Gate as it was the scene of his first Premiership try, though Saints did suffer a 62-8 defeat on that occasion.

"My first Premiership try came at Ashton Gate, which was pretty special, but not the result of the game because we've struggled there in the past," Hendy said.

"But everyone's conscious of that at the moment and we're determined to change that this weekend."

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