Wallabies lock Nick Frost has candidly admitted he struggled to get in and out of his car ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific season.
The towering forward was kept on ice by the Brumbies for the opening rounds of the competition after another long and gruelling campaign in 2025.
During the international season last year, 26-year-old Frost missed just two games of the Wallabies’ 15 Tests and played a full 80 minutes in 10 of those including the intense British and Irish Lions series.
Seemingly battle-weary, the Wallabies struggled on their late-year tour to Europe, finishing with four straight Test losses to England, Italy, Ireland and France.
Frost acknowledged he didn’t feel ready to play more rugby when he returned to the Brumbies ahead of this season.
“Anything that involved bending my knees, so sitting up, standing, I just really struggled getting in and out of the car,” he told reporters on Monday.
“At the start, I wasn’t as keen as I thought I’d be to get back out there … I wasn’t moving well at all. So that put a damper on enjoying rugby and enjoying the training, because I kind of sucked.
“I’m lucky enough that I got the opportunity to work on my body, which I’m very thankful for.”
Frost wouldn’t be lured into questions about whether there should be a bigger gap between the Super Rugby and Test seasons after he had less than a month between the Brumbies’ semi-final last year and the Wallabies’ first Test against Fiji.
Frost added he also gained weight last year, helpful for the rigours of international rugby but not so good for Super Rugby’s quicker pace.
“I definitely felt slow in my mobility … and around the Argentina Test (in September), I really started feeling like my body wasn’t moving that well,” he said.
“It (playing) does add up after a while. It’s not the games. It’s honestly the training that eats away.”
Frost returned to the Brumbies No. 4 jersey in round five, and he says he is feeling a lot better now than he did that first game.
He will get to test his body again against the Fijian Drua in Canberra on Saturday night as the Brumbies seek to improve their 5-3 record that has them sitting fourth.
