WestyLife
First Grade
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Bring back Hethero and play him on an edge
Wouldn't argue honestly.
Bring back Hethero and play him on an edge
That nutter doesn't belong anywhere near premiership side. He's fun to watch as long as it's not for us
With some control over his aggression (though to some extent the refs were targetting him) he could make a good Kiks replacement.Wouldn't argue honestly.
utg anywhere near premiership side. He's fun to watch as long as it's not for u
With some control over his aggression (though to some extent the refs were targetting him) he could make a good Kiks replacement.
The simpler one was pretty good this year IMO and wasn't smacking blokes high before injury.
Was a pretty small sample size though.
He always had a good month or so in him. Then would do something stupid and miss the next few weeks
Living in our hearts.Where is the King these days?
He always had a good month or so in him. Then would do something stupid and miss the next few weeks
Somewhere playing reserve grade where the farker belongsWhere is the King these days?
Terrell May is the form forward of the comp in NSW Cup
223m. 124 post contact 25 tackles
Surely is close to a start with the Roosters
I admired Moses, his family, Alex McKinnon, who as we all know will never walk again, and Nathan Stapleton.Do you remember when you used to be normal, daddy?â
Mose Masoe was told heâd never walk again. Last month, he walked five kilometres. The former NRL playerâs recovery from a serious spinal injury has defied the odds, but the setbacks just keep coming.
By Michael Chammas
May 20, 2022
A
few nights after Mose Masoe was rushed to hospital in February 2020, a 90-year-old man wandered into the foyer of the Leeds facility in the middle of the night.
âAre you OK?â Masoeâs partner Carissa asked the man.
It was two degrees outside. He appeared disorientated. All he had with him was a ÂŁ10 note.
Talking to the Herald inside his new Sunshine Coast rental property, Masoe breaks down into tears telling the story.
Mose Masoe and family at home on the Sunshine Coast
âHe wanted to donate to me,â an emotional Masoe says. âHe wasnât even a Hull fan. He was suffering from dementia and they had to call his next-door neighbour to take him home. When people you donât even know do things like that for you, itâs special. I never got the chance to meet him. But I felt his love.â
It is now 829 days since Masoeâs life changed forever. Since a hush fell over Mobile Rocket Stadium during a pre-season Super League friendly against Wakefield Trinity.
Masoeâs partner and children were still making their way to their seats at the time.
âI just looked up and noticed a few people looking at me,â Carissa recalled. âI just remember thinking, âWhereâs 10?â
No.10 wasnât moving. âI couldnât feel anything,â Masoe said.
âI opened my eyes and tried to count to five. I thought, âThis doesnât feel rightâ. As soon as the doctor ran on the field I said, âI think I broke my neckâ.â
Masoe was taken from the field on a stretcher and carried to the change rooms to wait for an ambulance.
âPinch my leg,â Masoe asked his fiancĂŠe. âPinch my leg.â
âI was already pinching him,â Carissa said. âHe had dents in his skin from how hard I was pinching.â
âYouâll never walk againâ
At the same time Masoe was being admitted to hospital, a teenage girl was rushed in with a stab wound to the neck. The severity of her injury meant Masoe was no longer the priority. Tragically, she later died.
Masoe eventually woke from surgery at 4am the next day. He had a buzzer on his chest and pain medication on the nearby table.
âHow am I going to push this buzzer?â he thought. âHow am I going to get this medicine?â
He was now a quadriplegic. It was over the next four hours, as he waited for Carissa to arrive so that he could drink and scratch his nose, that reality sank in.
But having found out just a few days earlier that their âmiracle babyâ was on the way, Masoe refused to feel sorry for himself.
âI didnât want to stress Carissa out because we were trying for baby No.3 for a while and had a few complications before that,â he said. âHe was coming in six months. I had to try and get as good as I can get so I would be able to hold this kid when he came out. That was my goal and my biggest drive when it happened.â
Doctors told him to come to terms with the likelihood that he would not walk again. Operating a wheelchair was deemed a best-case scenario.
âThat wasnât going to be me,â Masoe said.
For now, though, Masoe had to concentrate on everyday tasks. He allowed his teammates to feed him. He accepted his partnerâs help to shower him while lying in bed.
And with each day â long periods of which were spent staring at the ceiling, counting the tiles â things began to improve.
A visit from Johnathan Thurston raised the spirits of the entire ward, who could not believe their eyes when the Australian great surprised Masoe.
Masoe began sneaking his own rehabilitation sessions against the doctorsâ recommendations, so determined was he to walk again.
Eight months after suffering the injury, he took his first steps. A few months later, on one of his first outings since leaving hospital, he experienced a moment that will live with him for the rest of his life.
Standing at traffic lights with his family, waiting to cross the main street in Hull, a couple of drivers recognised him and sounded their horns to show their support. Other motorists saw what was happening and followed suit.
âAll of a sudden 100 people were beeping their horns,â Masoe recalls. âI kept telling myself, âDonât fall overâ. The light had gone red. They were all waiting for me to cross the road, beeping their horns in support. It was a nice moment I will never forget.â
Beating the odds
Masoe beat the odds when he took just one step. Having returned to Australia, he recently walked five kilometres, with the assistance of crutches, for charity.
âWhat he can do now for himself is what he could only dream of two years ago,â Carissa said.
But Masoeâs recovery also comes with realisation that life, while improving, will never return to the way it was.
âDo you remember when you used to be normal, daddy?â one of his daughters asked.
âThe hardest thing for the kids is at the park or the beach, Mose has to sit and doesnât get to play with them,â Carissa said.
âSometimes theyâll want him to do stuff and you can see them realise, âOh, Dad canât do thatâ.
For Mose, his positive attitude remains his greatest strength.
âItâs tough but then I have to look at where I came from,â he said. âYou look back, I was just in a bed and couldnât move. You just have to be grateful to be out with the kids, even to just sit there and watch because there are a lot of people in a similar situation to myself who wouldnât be able to do what I do.
âThey can see that Iâm improving. Itâs giving them that hope that hopefully one day my dad can push me on the swing.â
Carissa is now Masoeâs full-time carer. They wake up before the sun rises on most mornings to prepare for the day. What most people donât realise is that the paralysis in the limbs wasnât the only part of his body that was compromised.
âI would give up my legs to be able to have a normal bladder and bowel,â Masoe said. âI would happily sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life if I could just go to the toilet normally. Thatâs how big of an issue it is. There are days I wonât go out because I havenât had a bowel movement for a few days. I think everyoneâs bowel contracts three times an hour. But mine is three in a day.â
Facing the future
Masoeâs medical costs are currently running at around $80 a day, or $570 a week. âI think sometimes itâs hard for other people to understand because heâs up and about walking, everyone assumes itâs all going to be fine,â Carissa said. âHe still needs a lot of help. I know thereâs going to be setbacks.â
Since returning to Australia, the family has discovered they are not eligible for The National Disability Insurance Scheme despite Masoe â a New Zealand citizen â having previously lived in Australia for eight years.
The family were told Mose, despite his partner and some of his children being born in the country, had to live in the country for 10 years. But just as they thought they only had to wait another two years, they discovered the clock reset when he left the country to go play rugby league in England.
âWe had no idea,â Carissa said. âWe kind of expected a little waiting period but we have to wait 10 years to be entitled to any NDIS funding. Thatâs massive for us because thatâs massages, physiotherapy, medicine, medical equipment, catheters ... which he needs to be the best he can be. Thereâs nothing we can do.â
They have also been told by an insurance company in England that they are probably only entitled to a pay-out of ÂŁ5000 for his career-ending and life-changing injury. The $250,000 raised by Sportsbet and the Men of League foundation through last yearâs Try July campaign has been critical.
It will go towards the house they are about to start building on the Sunshine Coast which is designed to accommodate the needs of the former Sydney Roosters, Penrith Panthers and St George Illawarra front-rower.
âIf we didnât have that help from everyone in the rugby league community I donât know if we would have survived,â Masoe said.
âDo you remember when you used to be normal, daddy?â
Mose Masoe was told heâd never walk again. Last month, he walked five kilometres. The former NRL playerâs recovery from a serious spinal injury has defied the odds, but the setbacks just keep coming.www.smh.com.au
Luckily he's off to the KnightsI know it isnât going to happen but Iâd love to see Jack back as replacement for Kikau. Big, athletic, fast has an offload . At his current deal of $400k he would be excellent value.
Luckily he's off to the Knights
Yeah he could be anything with his talent and I love watching him but not for us hahaReplacing one thug for another. Never change Newcastle.
To be fair though, Jack isn't malicious, he just has terrible technique. Still love the guy though, he's the best kind of lunatic.
I always believed his worth was as a wide running back rower.Yeah he could be anything with his talent and I love watching him but not for us haha