Nothing is ever pie in the sky as far as Henson is concerned. The most gifted Welsh rugby player of his generation, he is back home in Wales at the re-formed Dragons and ready to push for one final hurrah with Warren Gatland’s Welsh team.
But will Gatland have him back? Henson believes he can still “offer something different” to what Wales currently have and would love to add to his 33 cap collection, the last of which came in a pre-World Cup friendly in 2011, when he dislocated his wrist.
Fleeting appearances for Saracens and Toulon, and then an ignominious departure from Cardiff Blues, did him no favours on the rugby front before his rugby rehabilitation took place at Bath and Bristol in recent seasons.
Now it is time for a real renaissance at the Dragons. If he can stay fit and focused then you have to believe that anything is possible for a player who makes the difficult things in the game look so easy.
He has looked good in the two weeks of pre-season work the Dragons players have put in so far under new head coach Bernard Jackman. The former Connacht, Sale Sharks, Leinster and Ireland hooker played against Henson during his career and knows first-hand how good he can be.
“I went to meet Gavin before we started pre-season because I didn’t sign him and I wanted to make sure he was still happy to be here. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but after we’d spent three hours talking I discovered he is a rugby anorak just like me,” said Jackman.
“I rang my mates and told them just how impressive I thought Gavin was. He is the ultimate professional and that feeling has been re-enforced 10 fold in training. His GPS scores are up there with any of our younger players and if he’s fit he can be a match winner for us.
“I played with some great ball players in Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Johnny Sexton, Charlie Hodgson, but it terms of time on the ball and how relaxed he is, Gavin is really gifted. You simply can’t coach what he has got.
“Sexton learned by having O’Driscoll and D’Arcy outside him and Gavin will be helping to bring on our younger players, like Angus O’Brien, Dorian Jones and Arwel Robson. He’s a mature man now and he’s got a point to prove coming back home to Wales.”
As far as Henson is concerned, he has nothing to prove to anyone, but he still has a burning desire to be as good as he can possibly be. If he can get back to his very best, then there is no one better in the business at creating space in the midfield.
He will back his talent, he says the commitment is there, but he knows he has to make the team and get out onto the pitch regularly to make the kind of impact he’d love to have at the Dragons. If that happens, look out!
“It’s just about staying fit. If I am staying fit and I’m out there every day in training, then I will get into the team and good things will happen. That’s all I have to do,” he said.
“I’m always confident in my ability, but I have to be out there week in week out to achieve my goals. I’m in the right place to get back into the Welsh set-up, although obviously my age will go against me.
“With the way my career has gone with injuries and stuff I just think ‘how did I manage to get 33 caps and stay fit for two Grand Slams’, rather than wonder about whether I should have won a stack more caps. I am quite proud of what I have achieved.
“I watch games as a fan, especially Wales, and I love it when we are winning and playing well. When we aren’t then I’m thinking ‘I could really do something different there’.
“I feel I offer something different that they don’t have in the Welsh squad. We will just have to wait and see how I perform with the Dragons and where the Dragons get to – if we are playing well and we’re in the top half of the table, who knows?
“I watch the Welsh games and I feel I can do something that could really help. It was nice to see the Lions go to a 10-12 thing in their backline and it made the difference against New Zealand. When I see how good the Welsh players are I just imagine what it would be like to play in a team like that. I didn’t get that chance when I was younger.”
However unlikely it is that he will get that chance, he’s still willing to give it a go. One thing Henson has never lacked is self-belief or confidence, although the question still remains, has he learned from his mistakes?
“I have been through it all and I am wiser for it. A big part of my enjoyment now comes from just passing on knowledge and helping the youngsters seeing things that they aren’t doing quite right,” he added.
“I get a lot out of that. I had to figure things out for myself when I was a youngster. I’ve got a two year contract at the Dragons and this is where I will finish my rugby, this is it now.
“It would be amazing to get one last shot at proving myself again, but more than anything I want to enjoy every second of it. I’ve kept myself motivated in the last couple of years by treating each season as if it was going to be my last.
“It is someone else’s decision about whether or not I get picked to play for Wales again, but I always have that in the back of my mind and I will be pushing for that. I have never been to a World Cup and I will go for it.
“It’s going to take stand-out performances week-in, week-out, to be able to get anywhere near the Welsh team, I know that. There is a lot left to achieve.
“It’s a good goal to have, though, and I’m always pretty motivated. I look to improve every day and, as soon as that feeling stops, I will finish.”
