Australia forward Ben McCalman will be glad to see the back of a nightmare 2017 but is hopeful of ending it on a high note following his return to the Test side.
The 29-year-old back-rower came off the bench to win his 50th cap in Japan last Saturday having played just one Super Rugby match all year after breaking his collarbone four times.
In addition to battling injury, McCalman saw the Western Force booted out of the Super Rugby competition, leaving him and his teammates in limbo going into the 2018 season.
McCalman's last appearance for the Wallabies was against the All Blacks in August 2016 and he is set to keep his spot on the bench for Saturday's match against Wales.
"I guess it was an unusual injury, so the frustration was trying to come back and it happening again,:" McCalman said.
"The decision to leave it six months and not try and push it has paid off."
He admitted he thought he might never return to Test rugby.
"I guess it did cross my mind but I'm very grateful to be back now.
"Cheik (coach Michael Cheika) rang me two weeks before heading off and asked me to come back into the squad, so I'm somewhere I didn't think I'd be even a month ago," McCalman said.
"I haven't played a lot of footy, had a lot of shuttles, lot of running up and down.
"It was a shoulder injury, so my lower body was fine; if anything, the rest has been good for the rest of the body."
The Melbourne Rebels and NSW Waratahs have both been linked with signing McCalman who'll have the chance to cement his spot as the Wallabies starter when flanker Sean McMahon heads off to play in Japan next year.
However, he said no decision has been made yet about where he'll ply his trade next season.
"For me, I didn't think I'd be here, so I'm just focused on the last couple of weeks getting back into the squad, focusing on that," he said.
"In the next week or two I'll decide where I'll be next year within Australia."
