Scott Fardy was involved in a car accident that closed two lanes of traffic, required police to attend and resulted in him being sent to hospital after his vehicle was hit while driving in Civic on Tuesday.
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Three days later he'll line up for his first game since a World Cup campaign that required 100 stitches just to keep him on the field.
ACT Brumbies flanker Fardy was thrown a curve ball this week when his vehicle was hit by another car and doctors spent time checking him for concussion, whiplash and any damage to his neck.
But if you think that would keep Australian rugby's blood-soaked warrior off the field, you're wrong.
Fardy bounced out of hospital to arrive at Brumbies training less than 24 hours later and is set to play in the club's pre-season trial against the Queensland Reds on Friday night.
It shouldn't come as a surprise given more often than not you find Fardy at the bottom of a ruck with blood dripping from his face.
Fardy continued to reaffirm his reputation as a hard nut in his unheralded performances in the Wallabies' World Cup campaign.
So a collision of a different kind won't stop him as he joins a host of Wallabies playing their first game since the World Cup when the Brumbies fly to Brisbane on Thursday.
"At this time you're probably sick of the fitness trainers and doing the straight-line running, you just want to get into games so I'm looking forward to what should be a good clash on Friday night," Fardy said.
"I felt good coming back into the pre-season, it was emotionally a long year and tough mentally. But I really enjoyed it and would love to do the same thing again.
"This week there's opportunities for guys to get into the starting team or the game-day 23 so we're all pushing each other."
The accident that left Fardy's Land Rover worse for wear was a speed bump in the Brumbies' preparation to take on a near full-strength Reds.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is set to test out a strong line-up, with co-captains Stephen Moore and Christian Lealiifano set for their first games alongside Fardy, David Pocock and Scott Sio.
Winger Henry Speight is also expected to suit up after spending the past month training and playing with the Australian sevens side as part of his Olympic Games bid.
"Fards has been itching to play for a long time now ... he's pretty sick of the pre-season program. he just wants to play," Larkham said.
"It's not just about ticking the legs over this weekend. This is going to be a good test of where we're at and what we've done in the pre-season."
