As it's the flavour of the month and fresh on our lips...I'm as despressed as anyone about the massive injury toll the Dragons are suffering again this season...but considering it, this is the conclusion I've drawn
Despite the gun players we have in the club, are we at a point where the club should consider such stars if they are never on the field for us?....
Recent history seems to have proven that once a Rugby League player has suffered a long term season ending injury, they continue to be plagued by injury, regardes of whether it's an injury to same part of the body or an unrelated one, they seem incapable of ever shaking the injury blues (in most cases).
Here are many names I can think of that have suffered season ending injuries in the past 3 or 4 seasons, and have spent equal or more time on the sidelines than on the field in that time since returning from a major injury, at very least they are troubled with injury more often than not during a season....
O'Davis, Hughes, Johns, A.MacDougall, Kennedy, Ross, Gasnier, Ryles, Bailey, Barrett, Thompson, Firman
Timmins seems to have got away from his injury blues, but even he for a long period struggled with various injuries.
Using some Dragons players as examples, (touch wood) you don't often see Cooper, Blacklock, Hornby and Riddell struggle with constant injuries concerns, and they are the guys that seem to play majority of the games each season. None of these guys that I can recall have ever had a serious season ending injury to date. Yet players like Barrett (since last year), Bailey and Thompson have struggled to be consistently fully fit.
Moral of the story..........do players whom have suffered long term serious injuries offer the same value (in terms of playing time) again after their injury? my theory suggest not!
I hope to god my theory is just a theory, and is proven wrong by the end of either this season or next season......but I've just got to start to wonder, for the sake of any nrl clubs' success, is it wise to hold on to injury plagued stars?.
Certainly Newcastle and the Dragons, the two sides who year after year suffer the worst injury tolls, are often missing the same star players year after year...game to game! :roll:
Welcome to discuss!
Despite the gun players we have in the club, are we at a point where the club should consider such stars if they are never on the field for us?....
Recent history seems to have proven that once a Rugby League player has suffered a long term season ending injury, they continue to be plagued by injury, regardes of whether it's an injury to same part of the body or an unrelated one, they seem incapable of ever shaking the injury blues (in most cases).
Here are many names I can think of that have suffered season ending injuries in the past 3 or 4 seasons, and have spent equal or more time on the sidelines than on the field in that time since returning from a major injury, at very least they are troubled with injury more often than not during a season....
O'Davis, Hughes, Johns, A.MacDougall, Kennedy, Ross, Gasnier, Ryles, Bailey, Barrett, Thompson, Firman
Timmins seems to have got away from his injury blues, but even he for a long period struggled with various injuries.
Using some Dragons players as examples, (touch wood) you don't often see Cooper, Blacklock, Hornby and Riddell struggle with constant injuries concerns, and they are the guys that seem to play majority of the games each season. None of these guys that I can recall have ever had a serious season ending injury to date. Yet players like Barrett (since last year), Bailey and Thompson have struggled to be consistently fully fit.
Moral of the story..........do players whom have suffered long term serious injuries offer the same value (in terms of playing time) again after their injury? my theory suggest not!
I hope to god my theory is just a theory, and is proven wrong by the end of either this season or next season......but I've just got to start to wonder, for the sake of any nrl clubs' success, is it wise to hold on to injury plagued stars?.
Certainly Newcastle and the Dragons, the two sides who year after year suffer the worst injury tolls, are often missing the same star players year after year...game to game! :roll:
Welcome to discuss!
