Teasdale 'over the moon' after making Raiders return

The return of the local academy product to the Guernsey midfield, initially off the bench and then in the No 12 shirt, has been a huge boon to the club following 15 months on the sideline after rupturing his ACL while playing touch rugby back in May 2021 and he is relishing the chance to make up for lost time.

‘It was a really long process and I have Steve Melbourne, Jordy [Reynolds] and a couple of other people down here to say thank you to, they really stuck by my side, kept me motivated throughout,’ said Teasdale.

‘It’s an emotional roller-coaster because there points to it were you think you’re so close to coming back and there’s bits where you can drop again, you lose motivation. But to pull that jersey back on – the first game I think was Barnes at home – was unbelievable. I was so happy to be back, glad to be playing.

‘I’m still a bit rusty, getting myself back into shape, but really enjoying it – absolutely over the moon that I’m back playing with the boys.’

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He added that missing a whole season and having to watch from the stands was ‘really tough’.

‘You learn to realise that you are coming back eventually, but especially at the beginning [it was] a really difficult period.

‘But being around the boys and being around the game-day [environment] really helped me to stay motivated because I knew that was where I wanted to be and the goal was to be back playing.

‘Obviously the body was a bit sore coming back into that first game and the games after, so yeah, quite the impact. But I’ve been down the bathing pools, had a few sea swims to recover so it’s not been too bad.’

And there lies Teasdale’s other sporting passion – swimming – and he revealed that he is eyeing the chance of representing Guernsey in his home pool at Beau Sejour at the 2023 NatWest Island Games.

‘I do want to go to the Island Games and I have had an awful lot of influence from my swimming coaches to try and get me to come back,’ he said.

‘I did do a competition earlier this year to try and qualify for another competition later in the year, so… I have till December to qualify so there is still a bit of breathing room but if I’m going to, I really need to get back in the pool and start training properly.

‘You never know.’