Wolves stalwart Ben Westwood tells, in his own words, how he could be a new man in his 15th year in primrose and blue following the five operations he's had since last August's Challenge Cup Final at Wembley

THIS is my 15th full season with Warrington and I feel stronger and fitter than the past two years, which I think is going to help me prolong my career.

I’ve got this year on contract and I’d like to do another year.

If I go alright and Smithy wants me, then we’ll see what happens.

After I tore my pectoral in the Challenge Cup Final last August I had five operations.

Now that I’ve got a new shoulder, a new arm and a new pec, let’s see how it goes.

I already had a little tear in the back of my shoulder, which I had known about for a few years, so while we were getting the pec fixed we thought we might as well get that done at the same time.

But as the surgeon went into my shoulder it was found I needed a full reconstruction.

There was a micro fracture and my bicep was hanging off.

So they stripped my bicep off and reattached all that, and I ended up having five operations instead of two.

I didn’t know anything about it.

Obviously, they didn’t wake me up to ask me but the physio was there with me.

The bicep could have held on, but they said that after a couple of games it could have gone ‘ping’ and I’d have needed it done then.

So we got it all done in one go.

After four months I started doing full-contact training again, so hopefully this all means I’m now ready to go.

I’d played with the injured shoulder for three or four years and I’ve finally got it fixed.

I might be a new man after this – who knows?

Last year my body was feeling fine and playing off the bench helped me a lot in that department, helping to save the miles in my legs.

Although I’d love to be able to play the 80 minutes you’ve got to start thinking about prolonging your career and trying to get the best out of yourself in small patches.

I was feeling alright and wasn’t getting as sore after matches.

I was enjoying it until the freak injury came in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley (a narrow 12-10 defeat to Hull FC).

There’s a lot of competition, there are about 25 props in the team, and all are training really hard.

Everyone’s one year better, I’m one year older at 35, but hopefully I’ll be there or thereabouts.

It was hard to adjust to the bench role at first. I had always been an 80-minute man and I’d always wanted to play 80 minutes.

So the change in how you use your energy on the field was different for me.

I was so used to not going full blast from the start but trying to work my way into a game, but now in 15 to 20 minute spells I have to go hell for leather from the off.

Jon Clarke’s got some different drills to help me through those situations.

I felt in the second half of the season I started getting used to it.

In that role when I come on it’s my job to change the game and lift everybody.

When people are feeling tired, I can give them a lift by doing something energetic or good.

That’s how I approached it, that’s my new role, and hopefully that’s what I’ll be looking to do again.

It was disappointing not being able to help the team in those big games towards the end of last season.

I’ve been blessed to play in some big games and win some finals but having missed the Grand Final in 2016 (a defeat to Wigan in October), the aim is to get there again this year.

I’m coming to the end of my career and there’s one thing I haven’t won so I’ll be hoping, praying and doing everything I can to get that one.

If I’m honest, I didn’t think when I first signed for Wolves in 2002 that I would have 15 seasons here.

Being a Yorkshireman, I never even thought I would leave Yorkshire.

But after a couple of years I moved down here and never looked back.

There’s been a lot of changes in that time.

Back then you could get away with a lot more on the field that’s for sure.

The speed of the game has all changed – in fact every department has stepped up a notch, whether it’s training, publicity, advertising.

The facilities that we have now have moved on so much from those days.

At training we’ve got an indoor 3G pitch (at the club’s Padgate base on the University of Chester’s campus), our own gym, our own field, our own food.

When I first came to Wilderspool, when we walked into the gym there were holes in the floor in the old Snookers place.

You had to watch where you were walking or you would fall through the floor.

It has been lovely to have been around that era and this era, being a young one coming through and especially now seeing the young ones develop when I am at the older end.

It’s quite sad it’s coming to an end and I’m having to think about what I am going to do next but we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.