Rowan, perhaps, heading off, joked: “Ready to go again?” (2-8)

I believe the answer is:

re-equipped

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'ready to go again?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'rowan perhaps heading off joked' is the wordplay.
'rowan perhaps' becomes 'tree' (rowan is a kind of tree).
'heading off' means to remove the first letter.
'joked' becomes 'quipped' (quipping is a kind of joking).
'tree' with its initial letter removed is 'ree'.
'ree'+'quipped'='RE-EQUIPPED'

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I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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