Canberra Raiders five-eighth Blake Austin says broken hand should have ended his season
Michael Carayannis, The Daily Telegraph
September 18, 2016 8:35pm
BLAKE Austin should not have returned until the grand final.
The Raiders five-eighth has revealed the full extent of the broken hand which threatened to ruin his season.
Austin rushed back with the Raiders’ year on the line, scoring the first try with some solo footwork in Canberra’s 22-12 win against the Panthers on Saturday night. Had it not been a finals game, Austin, who needed running repairs on the hand during the game, would have stayed sidelined.
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“If it had have been a round three or four I would’ve waited another couple of weeks,” Austin said.
“I wasn’t going to miss another game at GIO Stadium with that crowd. I’m pleased it pulled up well.
“The hand is pretty sturdy with the plates in there. The local anaesthetic numbs it and allows you to do plenty with it.”
Austin had two metal plates and 16 screws inserted, and was only medically cleared to play a day before Saturday’s match. Doubt about the durability of his hand crept into Austin’s mind having not played since injuring himself during a training drill in the lead-up to Canberra’s round 25 clash against Manly.
Austin suffered a nasty hand injury at Raiders’ training
“There were different nerves heading in,” Austin said.
“Not performance nerves. Just nerves of how I was going to feel. I was pretty confident I was ready to go but I didn’t want to let the boys down.
“It held up all right. I can now head to Melbourne without any fear of injury.”
While Austin shrugged off his hand injury, he was dealt another blow when he rolled his ankle midway through the first half. Austin limped his way through parts of the opening half but said he would be fine to take on the Storm on Saturday.
“That’s my body this year unfortunately,” Austin said. “A slight roll of the ankle, it’s about getting on with it and looking after it throughout the week.
“Not too many teams are 100 per cent this time of year. I’ll take a leaf out of Hodgo’s (Josh Hodgson’s) book with the way he looked after his ankle and look after mine.”
The Raiders five-eighth scored the opening try against his old club Penrith
The win against his former club doubled as Austin’s first finals appearance. Austin has become an integral part of the Raiders side since joining the club last year. He said he always knew he would be a dominant NRL player once he settled into a regular spot.
“Without sounding arrogant I knew I could make the mark on this level if I had a red hot crack,” Austin said.
“I really worked my backside off away from the field and that’s the reason.
“I’ve had my troubles with injuries and a little bit of form coming back from injuries, if this is my worst year of footy it’s going to be an enjoyable year.
“We are one win away from a grand final, we can test ourselves against some of the best players in the world.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...n/news-story/191bae0a3d8b133ad019606de1799e7e
What a courageous and excellent player. There's no way in hell that soft-c*ck Milford plays with a broken hand.....let alone scores an excellent solo try to put his team on the road to victory. Milford's flat out trying to do anything of note in the finals while fully fit.
