Buderus sidelined
By JAMES HOOPER
January 27, 2005
Soruce:
www.thedailytelegraph.com.au
DALLY M medallist Danny Buderus will miss the opening two rounds of the NRL season for Newcastle after undergoing surgery on a chronic foot injury.
The NRL's most dynamic hooker had a pin inserted in his foot last Thursday and requires crutches for the next week before he will be fitted with a specially designed boot.
At the worst point of the injury, severely torn toe ligaments, Buderus was placed on an intravenous drip in order to play the final match of last season against Wests Tigers.
Buderus, 26, has been recovering at his parents' Forster home since the operation in Sydney and must return to hospital next Tuesday to have stitches removed.
"Unfortunately it looks like I am going to miss the opening couple of games of the season but if it means getting the foot completely healed then that is a small sacrifice," Buderus said.
"I spoke to the doctor after the operation and he assured me it was a complete success so fingers crossed I'll be back as quickly as possible. For the next week it is just a matter of resting up. It's pretty hard to get around at the moment to be honest.
"I've been told I'm not allowed to drive until I have the stitches removed next week and then after that I can start doing some light rehabilitation.
"Hopefully I will be able to do some swimming to try and get things moving along, but I have to be careful not to push things too much."
In total the Kangaroos vice-captain will be sidelined for six weeks, meaning he will be unavailable for the Knights' opening two games of the year against Melbourne and Canberra.
Newcastle then have a bye in round three with Knights officials hopeful Buderus will be completely recovered for the round four clash with North Queensland.
Buderus struggled through the second half of last season with the condition, requiring pain-killing injections before each game, and was extremely limited at training. After returning from the Kangaroo tour of the UK last November, Knights officials opted to allow the creative dummy-half to delay surgery in order to make the most of a well-earned rest.
Other than Buderus, the only players Newcastle expect to be missing to start the season will be back-rower Clint Newton and fullback David Seage.
Newton is still serving a 12-week suspension for striking St George Illawarra prop Ashton Simms last season while Seage has made a slower-than-expected recovery from a knee reconstruction.
