Superstar Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes was convinced his season was over when he fractured his forearm while making a tackle against the Broncos earlier this month, but he’s now just one win away from another title after he made a spectacular return in his side’s preliminary final victory over the Sharks.

And if Hughes plays like he did on Friday night in next week’s decider then the Storm will likely beat whoever they play, with the reigning Dally M Medal winner showing no signs of the pain he experienced when trying to pass a ball just over three weeks ago.

It’s a stunning comeback by Hughes who dislocated his shoulder in round 21 and then broke his arm in his first game back, with the playmaker determined to clear up misinformation about the injuries and potential changes he made to his defence.

“I thought so (that my season was over) after the Broncos game. I thought I was no chance to play again but I got surgery the day after,” he said after the win over the Sharks where he wore a protective guard around his arm.

“The surgeon and the medical staff said I was a chance to play again, and once I heard that, I did everything I could (to get back).

“Heaps of people were saying wrist, but I don’t know where they got that information from.”

Dr Andrew Oppy is the man responsible for getting him back on the park after he rushed away from a round of golf to operate on the injured star.

“He’s a great dude. It was pretty crazy how he took time out of his personal life to do my surgery, and he did a great job,” Hughes said, revealing he would have sorted out tickets if Oppy had asked.

“Just getting confidence from him that he’d done a good job (was huge for me). When he said I was a chance to play in three or four weeks, I was up for it. If he’s saying that then it gives me a lot of confidence.”

Hughes only had a couple of days off before he returned to training in a bid to strengthen the arm, with the fracture helping his other injury in the process.

“I think that was the blessing in disguise because I got a couple of weeks to rest my shoulder,” he said.

“To be fair though, I felt really confident in my shoulder.

“I feel like a lot of people said I was rushed back (and that the injuries were linked) but it was just bad luck which was frustrating (to hear people say) they rushed me back and that’s what I get for coming back early and getting injured.”

The halfback resumed contact work last Thursday because he wanted a full week of hard training to convince himself and the team that he could play.

Whatever he did worked because he was outstanding on Friday with Hughes fending away from two defenders with his dodgy arm to score a slashing solo try.

“I know it sounds heroic and that I’m tough for playing, but I actually felt really good,” he said.

“I wasn’t sore out there and I was able to get confidence from the week. If I wasn’t able to get that confidence then I wouldn’t have played.

“I went out there not thinking about it, and I feel that helped me play my game.”

There were suggestions that Hughes had changed his tackling technique for the Broncos game but he shut that down immediately, with the halfback an obvious target for the Sharks.

They went after him a few times, with five-eighth Braydon Trindall rushing out of the line and spectacularly colliding heads which resulted in a penalty but didn’t earn him a charge from the match review committee.

“There was a lot of talk (about them coming after me) and whatever in the media, but I can’t control that,” he said.

“I feel like if they were trying to come after me, they were probably off their own game. I don’t know if they had a game plan (to go after me) but my team did a wonderful job to protect me.

“I think they said that because it was head on head that it wasn’t that bad, but you can’t go out there and be reckless and headbutt people, can you?

“It looked like it was head on head. I think when you’re coming out of the line not in control, I think it’s a bit dangerous when you’re leading with your head…because you can do a bit of damage. It did a bit of damage to my mouth but it’s all good.”

Hughes and the Storm now have nine days between games, with their next assignment a shot at redemption after they went down in last year’s grand final.

“We’ve got a lot of self-belief in this group,” he said.

“I feel like the loss last year is going to help us a little bit, not just with motivation but with learning off what we did right and wrong in the game and in the prep because there’s a lot that goes into the training week.

“Hopefully we can handle that a bit better this year.”

Originally published as ‘I thought I was no chance to play again’: Inside the 22 days of recovery that helped Jahrome Hughes lead the Storm to another grand final